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THE 


GAS-WORKS OF LONDON: 


COMPRISING 


A SKETCH OF THE GAS-WORKS OF THE CITY, 
PROCESS OF MANUFACTURE, QUANTITY 
PRODUCED, COST, PROFIT, ETC. 



ZERAH COLBURN, C. E., 

H 

MEMB, INST. CIV. ENGINEERS; 

MEMB. INST. MECH. ENGINEERS ; MEMB. COUNCIL, SOC. OP ENGINEERS. 



PHILADELPHIA: 
HENRY CAREY BAIRD, 

INDUSTRIAL PUBLISHER, 

406 Walnut Street. 








INTRODUCTION. 


A few of my professional friends, some of them on 
more than one occasion, have asked me to entrust to 
a publishing house, and over my own name, a series 
of articles upon the Gas-works of London, written by 
me early in 1862 , and printed in The Engineer 
newspaper. With the sanction of the proprietors of 
The Engineer, I now acknowledge the authorship 
of the following pages, which, however, have been 
corrected and extended beyond their original scope. 

Although not pretending to the character of an 
exhaustive treatise upon the manufacture of gas, the 
present work will be found to contain special and 
exact information not embodied in any other volume. 
Within the last ten years the details of gas-making 
in London have been greatly changed; clay retorts 
have become universal, and so, in London at least, 
has become the substitution of oxide of iron for lime, 
as a purifier. So, too, the residual products, and their 
conversion into marketable goods, have become the 
salvation of many a gas company, at one time well- 
nigh bankruptcy. 



IV 


INTRODUCTION. 


I have to acknowledge the assistance, in this work,' 
of almost every gas engineer in London. I cannot 
name all, even if I wished to do so, but I may partic¬ 
ularise a goodly number. To Mr. Evans, the late 
Mr. Banister, and Mr. Upward, of the Chartered Gas 
Company: Mr. Methven, Mr. Kirkham, and Mr. 
Clark, of the Imperial Company; Mr. Innes, of the 
Phoenix Company ; Mr. Mann, of the City Gas-works ; 
Mr. Pritchard, of the Western ; Mr. Brothers, of the 
Equitable; Mr. Livesay, of the South Metropolitan; 
and Mr. Laing, of the Independent Company, I owe 
many thanks. I am hardly less indebted to my 
friend Robert M. Christie, Esq., who, when engineer 
to the Commercial Gas Company, was the first in 
London to substitute clay for iron retorts, not expe¬ 
rimentally merely, but exclusively; and I may add 
the name of Mr. Alfred Williams, who has placed me 
under repeated obligations. 

Zerah Colburn. 


7 , Gloucester-road, Regent’s Park, London. 
February 10th, 1865. 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


-♦- 

The metropolis, including a number of its suburbs, 
is supplied with gas by thirteen companies, owning 
nineteen works, all but two of which are within four 
miles from Charing-cross. The retorts, both single¬ 
end and double-end, are equal to almost exactly 
5000 double retorts, averaging about 19 ft. in length, 
or to 10,000 mouth-pieces. It has been estimated 
that these works carbonise 850,000 tons of coal an¬ 
nually, and from which about 8,000,000,000 (eight 
thousand million, or, in the ordinary terms of gas 
measurement, eight million thousand) cubic feet of 
gas is made. Of this upwards of one million thou¬ 
sand feet is lost by leaking from the mains and in 
other ways, while the rest is sold for about 1,400,000/. 
Other estimates give 1,000,000 tons as the amount of 
coal carbonised yearly, the sale of gas and residual 
products amounting to 2,000,000/., equal to 14s. 6d. 
for every man, woman, and child in the metropolis. 

B 



2 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


The first gas company in London, as it was the 
first in the world for the production of gas commer¬ 
cially, was the u Chartered,” originally empowered as 
u The Gas Light and Coke Company,” and which 
commenced business in 1812. This company has, 
for many years, carried on three separate works, one 
in the Horseferry-road and Great Peter-street, West¬ 
minster, one in Goswell-street and Brick-lane, and a 
third in the Curtain-road. The City of London Gas 
Light and Coke Company built extensive works, in 
1812 also, at the foot of Dorset-street, just below the 
Temple, and upon ground originally occupied by the 
New River Company. The Phoenix Company was 
the first to make gas on the south side of the Thames, 
their first retort-house, at Bank-side, and now occu¬ 
pied as a boiler shop by Messrs. Rennie, having been 
built in 1816. The present retort-house at Bank- 
side was erected in 1840, and in 1848 the same com¬ 
pany, already carrying on a branch works at Green¬ 
wich, established a third and extensive station at the 
south-eastern end of Vauxhall-bridge, with large gas¬ 
holders at Kennington-oval. The next London gas 
company was the Imperial, whose operations have 
always been by far the most extensive of any in the me¬ 
tropolis, if not in the kingdom. The Imperial has three 
gas-works, the Pancras station, at Battle-bridge, near 
King’s-cross; the Hackney-road works, Great Cam- 
bridge-street ; and a third establishment at Fulham. 
Then we have the London Gas-works, in Vauxhall, 
near the bridge ; the Ratcliff, near the Wapping end 
of the Thames Tunnel; the South Metropolitan, in 
the Old Kent-road; the Commercial, in Stepney, 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


O 

O 


near the Mile End-road; the Equitable, in Pimlico, 
a short distance above Yauxhall-bridge; the Inde¬ 
pendent, in Albert-street, Haggerstone; the Surrey 
Consumers’, in Rotherhithe, near the Thames Tunnel; 
the Great Central Consumers’, at Bow-common ; and 
the Western, at Kensal-green. It will not be neces¬ 
sary for our purpose to give the boundaries of the 
districts supplied by the various companies. In most 
cases the position of the works themselves is within 
the district supplied, although in other instances the 
whole delivery of gas is at a considerable distance 
from the works. Thus, the Great Central Con¬ 
sumers’ Company, whose works are at Bow-common, 
are not allowed by their Act to supply gas elsewhere 
than in the city of London, the neighbourhood about 
them own works being lighted by the Commercial 
Company. 

Three gas-works, the Ratcliff, the Surrey Con¬ 
sumers’, and the Greenwich branch of the Phoenix, 
are on or close to the Thames, below London-bridge, 
and are thus enabled to receive their coal directly 
from the Newcastle colliers. Five works, the Bank- 
side and Vauxhall stations of the Phoenix Company, 
the City, the London, and the Equitable, are on the 
river side, above bridge. Five works, the Commer¬ 
cial, the Independent, the Pancras and Hackney- 
road stations of the Imperial, and the Western, are 
on the Regent’s canal. The Fulham station of the 
Imperial Company is on the Kensington Canal, the 
South Metropolitan works are on the Grand Surrey 
Canal, and the Great Central Consumers’ is close to 
the North London Railway, from which branches 

b 2 


4 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


extend directly into each side of the retort-house. 
Neither of the three stations of the Chartered Gas 
Company are on a line of water or railway communi¬ 
cation, the whole of their coal having to be sacked at 
the nearest wharf, thence carted to the works, where 
the men carry it in on their hacks. The City extension 
of the North London Kailway will run close to the 
Curtain-road works, which will thus receive their coal 
directly from the railway waggons, the level of the 
rails being 16 ft. above the floor of the retort-house. 

Illuminating gas is produced by the decomposi¬ 
tion of organic substances, of which coal is among 
the cheapest and most convenient. Under a de¬ 
structive distillation at a high heat, wood, resins, fats 
and oils, peat, and many other substances yield light¬ 
ing gas. In some of the towns in America, as at 
Wilmington, North Carolina, the whole supply of gas 
has been made from pine wood, which does not, 
however, afford a gas of high illuminating power. 
Works for the production of gas from resins, fats, 
and oils, were at one time common, but have been 
generally abandoned on account of the greater cost 
of the gas produced as compared with that obtained 
from coal in the ordinary manner. Some interest 
has been aroused by the gas-producing properties of 
peat, and one or two of the London companies are 
now experimenting with peat from the estates of the 
Earl of Caithness in the North of Scotland. Thus 
far the results have been encouraging, and it may 
be that peat gas will, by-and-by, come into exten¬ 
sive use. 

Purified coal gas consists almost entirely of carbon 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


and liydrogen in two different proportions of mixture. 
Hydrogen, which is the more inflammable constituent, 
gives but a very feeble light when burnt in the air or 
in pure oxygen. When two atoms of hydrogen have 
united themselves to one of carbon, forming car- 
buretted hydrogen, or marsh gas (the u fire damp” of 
the miners), light is afforded, as, in burning, the in¬ 
flammation of the hydrogen precipitates the carbon 
atoms, raising them to incandescence, in which state 
they are highly luminous. When the two atoms of 
hydrogen take up a second atom of carbon, forming 
bi-carburetted hydrogen, or olefiant gas, the illu¬ 
minating power is greatly increased. Purified coal 
gas is a mixture, in variable proportions, of pure 
hydrogen and carburetted and bi-carburetted hy¬ 
drogen, the whole having, as in the average of 
London gas, a specific gravity of about .400 or .412, 
air being 1.000. 

Coal is, practically, a compound of carbon and 
hydrogen in the solid state. A good gas coal may 
contain 85 per cent, of carbon, and from 5 to 7 per 
cent, of hydrogen, the remainder being fixed oxygen, 
&c., besides mineral matter. The coal once decom¬ 
posed at a high heat, the hydrogen immediately takes 
the gaseous state, carrying with it also from twice to 
three or four times its own weight of carbon vapour in 
combination. The remaining carbon, generally from 
60 to 70 per cent, of the original weight of the coal, 
is known as coke, its porous structure being due to the 
formation of highly expansive gas throughout its 
whole mass. At a low heat, the chief products of the 
distillation of gas-bearing coal are liquid hydro-car- 


6 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


bons, as oil and tar. Paraffine oil is distilled at a 
moderate beat from the highly hydrogenous Boghead 
coal, and it is probable that the vast subterranean 
collections of oil in and near the American coal fields 
have been formed by the action of internal heat upon 
the beds of coal themselves. At various places not 
far from the oil wells, natural gas is obtained in 
abundance from the ground, the town of Fredonia, in 
the State of New York, beiim lighted throughout by 
natural gas, which is also employed for illuminating 
one of the lighthouses on the southern shore of Lake 
Erie. This gas, we may suppose, has been generated 
at a higher heat from either the coal or coal-oil, from 
near deposits of which the gas is obtained. 

We may observe here that the lights given out by 
torches, oil and spirit lamps, and candles, are true gas¬ 
lights, as much so as that which blazes from the 
burner of a gas-pipe. In burning any inflammable 
substance, it is gradually decomposed by the heat 
communicated from the original ignition, and the 
gaseous products thus formed, and to which the 
brilliancy of the light is due, are practically identical 
with coal gas. The superior brilliancy of the latter 
is due to its being less diffused, and to being burnt at 
a more rapid rate; at least a dozen sperm candles 
being required to give as much light as an Argand 
gas-burner burning 5 cubic feet per hour. A gas- 
burner burning but 1A cubic feet per hour gives a 
light only equal to that from a single candle, while 
by doubling the discharge from the burner a light 
equal to that of from 8 to 10 candles is obtained. 

With this hasty glance at the nature and properties 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


7 


of coal gas, we may follow up the details of its pro¬ 
duction in the great gas-works of the metropolis. At 
many of these works two qualities of gas are made, 
ordinary gas and cannel gas, the latter having two- 
thirds more illuminating power than the former, the 
usual price of ordinary gas being 4s. 6d. per thousand 
cubic feet, while cannel gas is sold at 6s. The 
Western Gas Company make only cannel gas. For 
the ordinary gas the coal used comes from the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Newcastle. A good house coal is not, 
as a rule, the best gas coal, as the latter would be too 
smoky and “ crusty.” Hence it is that the coal from 
the Pelton, Haswell, Lambton’s, Leverson’s and Pelaw 
pits, being especially rich in hydrogen, and therefore 
preferable for gas-making, ranks in price considerably 
below that of Wallsend. Thus North Pelton gas 
coal has been quoted lately as low as 12s., and per¬ 
haps 14s. is a fair average price for gas coals in the 
Pool, where the Surrey Consumers’ Company unship 
them at their own doors. Cannel gas is either made 
directly from Lancashire, Scotch, or Welsh cannel 
coal, or it is made by mixing the gas from Newcastle 
coal with that made from Boghead coal. The latter 
now brings 56s. a ton, and its price is likely to rise to 
where gas companies can no longer afford to use it. 
Some of the Newcastle coals contain a certain propor¬ 
tion of cannel in combination. From the Leverson 
coal, for instance, more or less cannel may be picked 
out. At present, for making cannel gas up to the 
parliamentary requirement, the proportion of Boghead 
to Newcastle coal is about as 3 to 7, 30 per cent, of the 
whole amount of coal carbonised being of the former, 


8 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


and 70 per cent, of the latter variety; the different 
kinds of coal being carbonised in separate retorts, so 
set that the gases may meet and intermingle in the 
u hydraulic main” over the retorts. 

Good gas coal is more liable than other coals to 
spontaneous ignition. The presence of u fire-damp” 
in the mines of richly bituminous coal proves the 
readiness with which hydrogen separates from solid 
carbon, and if the coal be reduced to u slack,” which 
is the state in which a great deal of gas coal comes to 
London, some attention to ventilation is necessary to 
prevent the accumulation of gas in the vessels and 
stores in which the coal is kept. Occasionally we 
hear of a gas explosion blowing up the decks and 
u starting” the planking of a collier. If the coal be 
allowed to get damp, decomposition of both the coal 
and water goes on, and there is every chance that the 
former may ignite spontaneously unless thoroughly 
ventilated. At the different London gas-works, from 
20,000 to 100,000 tons of coal are carbonised yearly, 
and large stocks, often from 5,000 to 20,000 or 30,000 
tons of coal, are occasionally stored together. Unless 
care is taken to keep the coal well out of the weather, 
and to secure good ventilation, both by large openings 
in the upper part of the walls of the coal sheds, and, 
generally, by air-pipes penetrating and ramifying 
throughout the coal itself, there is more or less danger 
of fire. 

The coal wheeled to the floor of the retort-house, 
the business of gas-making commences. Gas retorts 
are close vessels, once made almost exclusively of cast 
iron, but in all the London gas-works they are now 


THE GAS-WOEKS OF LOEDON. v 9 

almost as exclusively made of fire-clay or built up of 
fire-bricks. The old iron retorts were generally 7 ft. 
6 in. long, with one end cast in, the other being 
closed by a removable lid or cover. More than 
nineteen-twentieths, however, of all the gas retorts 
now in use in London are from 18 ft. to 20 ft. long, 
and provided with lids at both ends. In cross section 
the retorts are either circular, elliptical, or Q shaped, 
a very large, if not the largest, proportion of those 
now used in London being; of a circular section. An 
internal diameter of 15 in. is a common size, the fire¬ 
clay sides being from 3 in. to 3J in. thick all round. 
Considerably larger retorts are used however, the 
Chartered Company having a number of Q retorts 
at their Goswell-street works, measuring 26 in. inside. 
The retorts are always placed horizontally, a number 
varying from five to fourteen being set together 
within a sort of oven of fire-brick, which is heated 
throughout, generally by a fire in a single furnace at 
each end, although occasionally two fires are employed 
at each end of a set of retorts. Each set, or oven of 
retorts, is technically called a u bench,” and these are 
placed, side by side, in a long row, the length of 
which governs the length of the retort-house. 

At the great Pancras station of the Imperial Com¬ 
pany, there are nearly 600 retorts, 20 ft. long, or 
nearly 1,200 “ mouth-pieces,” the retorts being worked 
from both ends. These are generally set 10 in a 
bench, although in some of the benches there are but 
6 retorts. At the Hackney-road station of the same 
company there are, we believe, 386 retorts 19 ft. 6 in. 
long, a large number being set 10 in a bench. At 


10 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


the Fulham station of the same company are 380 
long retorts, 240 of which are set 6 in a bench, while 
140 more are set 10 in a bench. It is to be borne in 
mind that 6 is the number now adopted in setting 
new retorts. 

At the Horseferry-road station of the Chartered 
Gas-works there are equal to 400 long Q retorts, or 
800 mouth-pieces. Some are set 11 in a bench, 
although a smaller number appears to be preferred. 
At the Goswell-street works, some of the retorts are 
but 9 ft. long, and worked from only one end. There 
are 545 mouth-pieces, equal to 272-J full-length retorts. 
All are set 5 in a bench. At the Curtain-road works 
only single-end retorts, 9 ft. long, are used, and of 
these there are 155, equal to 77J retorts 18 ft. long. 

The Vauxhall station of the Phoenix Company has 
357 retorts, 20 ft. long, mostly cylindrical, and all set 
7 in a bench. At Bankside there are 140 retorts, of 
the same length and shape, and set 7 in a bench. At 
Greenwich a smaller number is used. 

The City of London Gas-works, Dorset-street, have 
single and double retorts, mostly cylindrical, equal to 
920 of the former, or 460 of the latter. There are 
but few single retorts. A small number also of old 
retorts are of iron. The usual number placed in a 
bench is 7, although some are set 5 together. 

The London Gas-works, Vauxhall, have about 250 
retorts, mostly cylindrical, 16 in. in diameter, and say 
19 ft. long. They are usually set 9 in a bench, with 
one fire grate at each end of each bench, although a 
number are set 12 in a bench, with two fire grates at 
each end. 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


11 


i 

The Equitable Gas-works have, we believe, 29 
benches of 19 ft. 6 in. retorts, some with 7 and some 
with 9 in a bench, there being, in all, 434 mouth¬ 
pieces. 

The Commercial Gas-works have 270 long retorts 
set, mostly 7 in a bench. 

The Ratcliff Gas-works have 105 long retorts, set 

7 in a bench. 

The South Metropolitan works have 195 long Q 
retorts, all but one bench containing 7 in a bench. 

The Great Central Gas Consumers’ works have 
279 long retorts, 11 being the number generally set 
in a bench. The benches are very high, and the 
retort-house is divided into two storeys, 7 retorts 
opening upon the upper stage and 4 below, where the 
fire is made. The retorts are all of clay. Originally, 
Mr. Croll, the former engineer, and afterwards the 
contractor for carrying on the works, made the fires on 
a level with the upper stage, where the heat first acted 
upon 6 clay retorts, afterwards descending and acting 
upon 7 iron retorts below. 

The Surrey Gas Consumers’ works, until lately 
worked by Mr. Croll, have 16 benches of long ellipti¬ 
cal retorts, the retort-house being divided into two 
storeys. The fires are made upon the upper stage, 
where the fire from each grate acts first upon 6 clay 
retorts 15 in. in diameter, afterwards descending: to 

8 cast-iron retorts below, there being 14 in a bench. 

At the Western Gas-works there are 65 Q and 

102 circular retorts, 20 ft. long, set generally 7 in a 
bench. We may here notice a peculiarity of the 
retort-house at these works. As originally designed 


12 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


by Mr. G. H. Palmer, it is a twelve-sided building, 
forming a dodecagon in plan. The retorts were origi¬ 
nally placed around the building against the sides. 
When long retorts afterwards came to be used, all the 
benches were taken down and others set up, so as to 
form ranges radiating from the centre of the house 
outwardly. 

At the Independent Gas-works there are 301 
mouth-pieces, the retorts, mostly of full length, being 
set 7 in a bench. 

At the various works of the Chartered Gas Com¬ 
pany, and at the South Metropolitan works, the 
retorts are built on the spot of fire-bricks. At all the 
other works we believe that retorts moulded in fire¬ 
clay are exclusively used, with the exception only of 
the small number of iron retorts already mentioned. 
Mr. Grafton, of Cambridge, patented the clay retort 
in 1820, and it soon after came into extensive use in 
Scotland; so soon, indeed, that Mr. J. B. Neilson, 
the patentee of the hot blast, and who was originally 
engineer to the Glasgow Gas-works, has had the 
credit of the first application of clay to gas retorts. 
It was many years, however, before clay retorts came 
into extensive use in England. An iron retort 20 ft. 
long, and of medium diameter, weighs about 2 tons, 
costs, say 12/., and is worn out after having distilled 
about 1,500,000 cubic feet of gas (750,000 ft., if the 
retorts be a single one, 9 ft. or 10 ft. long), which is 
equal to about an average year’s work. A clay retort 
of the same size, costing 6s. per foot, or 6/., will 
generally be in good condition after three years’ use, 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


13 


and some are said to have been worked for from five 
to eight years. Rather more fuel is required for 
heating clay retorts than is necessary with iron, but 
the former can be worked at a higher heat, which gas 
engineers generally consider an advantage. In Ame¬ 
rica, where the cheapest gas (made at Pittsburgh from 
coal dug almost at the doors of the works) cost 6s. 3d. 
per 1000 ft., the price in New York being 10s. 6d, 
and in Philadelphia 9s. 6d. per 1000 ft.; clay retorts 
are only beginning to be used, notwithstanding, too, 
that the old sin ole-end iron retorts have sold there for 

O 

14/. a ton. These prices ruled before the war. 

Fire-clay retorts are made in the neighbourhood of 
Newcastle and elsewhere, and we are not sure that 
the London gas companies do not import them occa¬ 
sionally from Belgium, where also they are exten¬ 
sively manufactured. A good fire-clay should be, as 
nearly as possible, pure silica and alumina, combined 
as a silicate of alumina. The presence of lime and 
iron, which makes almost the whole of the difference 
between fire-bricks and ordinary bricks, renders the 
clay fusible in proportion to the extent to which these 
impurities are present. The Dinas clay, from Wales, 
is in high repute among gas engineers, and the Stour¬ 
bridge and Newcastle fire-clays divide the suffrages 
of many experienced men. We have even heard 
Cowan’s Newcastle fire-bricks pronounced superior to 
Stourbridge, notwithstanding that the former cost 
but about 60s. a thousand, the latter fetching, say 
90s., and Dinas bricks somewhere about 110s. Some 
clays expand under the action of fire, others shrink, 


14 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


and there are others still, among which we believe, 
are the three varieties named, whose bulk is hardly 
affected by any degree of heat. 

The fire-clay retorts are moulded about 3 in. thick, 
and generally in lengths of from 4 ft. to 6 ft. The 
lengths intended to form the outer ends of the retort 
are thickened to rather more than 4 in., and holes are 
formed in the clay to receive five or six bolts for hold¬ 
ing on the mouth-pieces, which are short extensions of 
the retort, and which are always of cast-iron. To fasten 
the several lengths of the retort, end to end, together, 
so as to form a single retort, is easily accomplished by 
introducing at the joints, and in a plastic state, a little 
fire-clay, as nearly as possible of the same quality as 
that of which the retort itself is made. With this 
clay in the joints, precisely as mortar is interposed 
between ordinary bricks, the retort is “ set” or got into 
place in the “ bench,” where a high heat is applied, 
and the separate lengths burnt into one continuous 
tube, complete and ready for use. Of course all the 
retorts in a bench, whether there be five, seven, or a 
dozen or more, are thus burnt together at the same 
time. It is usual to make a narrow shallow groove in 
each abutting end of the several lengths, the fire-clay 
for jointing thus having a better hold while soft. Many 
gas engineers, however, now order retorts without this 
groove, the abutting ends being left as smooth as the 
other surfaces of the retort. 

Clay retorts, unless encircled by frequent thick¬ 
nesses of brick-work, would crack, and probably break 
down altogether. We have, it is true, heard some¬ 
thing about clay retorts being set and worked in some 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


15 


of the French gas-works, while supported only at the 
ends, but nothing of the kind is attempted in London. 
Clay retorts crackle upon the surface, even when, as 
in all London gas-works, fire-brick partitions or bonds 
are built completely around them at distances of from 
a foot to 15 in. from centre to centre for the whole 
length of the retort. Through these walls, 4 in. thick, 
and a dozen or fifteen in number, a 20 ft. retort passes 
much as a boiler-tube might extend through a sue- 
cession of tube-plates, only there is, perhaps no neces¬ 
sity for absolutely tight joints in the brick-work out¬ 
side of gas retorts, at least the brick-work within the 
walls of the bench in which they are set. We have 
referred to the bond-walls before commencing to de- 
scribe the setting of retorts, and for the reason that 
these walls do not particularly affect the distribution 
and action of the heat, but are provided chiefly to 
secure the integrity of the retorts themselves, and may 
thus be regarded as part of their own structure. Clay 
retorts, however protected, must be very gradually 
heated, and as gradually let down, else they will be 
very apt to crack. 

Retorts built up of separate fire-bricks have been 
used for many years, and Mr. Spinney has made 
them, in this manner, of the size of large ovens, say 
5 ft. wide, or thereabouts, at the bottom. Of the fire¬ 
brick retorts now made in the London gas-works, 
few, however, are over 20 in. wide at the bottom. The 
advocates of fire-brick retorts declare that they will 
neither crack nor leak. Inasmuch as they cost but 
little, if any, more than moulded clay retorts, last at 
least as long, require no more fuel for heating, and in 


16 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


volve no especial difficulties or inconveniences, one 
would suppose that, if they possessed any merits, they 
would be in general use. These negative virtues are 
insufficient, however, to commend them to gas en¬ 
gineers generally. We suspect the chief reason to be 
that, as they must be constructed and burnt together 
at the gas-works, men who have had no experience 
with them (and here we include nine-tenths of all gas 
engineers) are disinclined to incur the care and pos¬ 
sible chances of failure of making them, and, there¬ 
fore with the retort-makers’ commercial travellers 
omnipresent, prefer buying outright that which is 
known to answer, and which, if it fail, can be re¬ 
turned to a responsible tradesman who undertakes to 
make good all defects. For our own part, we are in¬ 
clined to believe that the brick retorts are the cheapest 
in the end; but it is, perhaps, too much to expect 
men to enter upon a business in which there is no¬ 
thing to protect them from themselves, whereas, by 
giving out a contract, they can transfer the whole 
responsibility to other shoulders, whose owner is glad 
enough—for the sake of profit—to take all the risk. 

At the Horseferry-road station of the Chartered 
Gas-works, the bricks intended for retorts are made of 
Dinas (Welsh) clay, and are 15 in. long, about 2Jin. 
thick, and moulded to the curve of the sides and top 
of the retort. The floor of the retort is made of suc¬ 
cessive lengths of fire-clay tiles, or slabs, about 3 in. 
thick, except on the two edges corresponding to the 
sides of the retort, where the tile is rabbetted to re¬ 
ceive the lower edge of the side bricks. All the bricks 
are laid upon a wooden centre and made to break 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


17 


joint with each other. The cementing material is 
plastic fire-clay, of the same quality as the bricks 
themselves, and applied just as ordinary mortar would 
be applied. The retorts being thus successively built 
up within the bench, a strong heat is put upon them 
and the joints baked together, just as the several 
lengths of fire-clay retorts are made to unite in one 
continuous whole. 

At the Goswell-street station of the Chartered 
Gas Company, Mr. Upward, the engineer, employs 
Cowen’s Newcastle bricks in building retorts. At the 
South Metropolitan, Mr. Livesey also uses Cowen’s 
bricks, each brick being made to lap for half its thick¬ 
ness, at each end, upon those contiguous to it, while 
grooves, made to secure a better hold of the fire-clay 
used in jointing, are scored in the longitudinal edges. 
The tiles are made from the Ewell fire-clay, which, al¬ 
though containing sufficient iron to give it a bright red 
colour, and although of a friable nature, almost as 
much so, indeed, as Bath brick, is scarcely affected 
by heat. Mr. Livesey adopts a thickness of 3 in. for 
his retort bricks, and 3J in. for the tiles forming the 
bottoms. At the Crystal Palace District Gas-works, 
at Sydenham, Mr. Christie adopts Stourbridge in pre¬ 
ference to Newcastle bricks for retorts, although, thus 
far, as in the Commercial works, of which Mr. Christie 
formerly had charge, he has generally employed clay 
retorts of the common kind. There is a decided and 
distinguishing difference in the colour of the Stour¬ 
bridge and Newcastle fire-bricks, the former having a 
flesh colour, while the latter, when new, are of an 
almost milky whiteness. It is curious to note that 


18 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


after the lightest coloured bricks have been subjected 
to long service in a gas retort, they are found to have 
acquired a reddish, and often a dark red colour. When 
broken up, ground under edge runners, and the 
powder again tempered and moulded into bricks, old 
fire-clay retorts will come out a deep red. This can 
result only from the acquisition of iron from the coal 
carbonised in the retorts. 

The setting of retorts is a matter of much im¬ 
portance, the objects being to secure a high and 
uniform heat upon all the retorts in a bench with the 
least expenditure of coke in firing. A Mr. Hack- 
house is said to have been the first, and as long asm 
as 1815, to introduce the plan of setting each nest of 
retorts in an oven, the plan now invariably adopted 
in all the gas-works of London. With the long 
retorts now used, these ovens may be described as 
tunnels about 18 ft. long, G ft. or 7 ft. wide, and of a 
height corresponding to the number of retorts to be 
enclosed. The arch or crown of the oven is semi¬ 
circular, or semi-elliptical, and is turned in fire-bricks, 
of which, also, all the surfaces exposed to the heat are 
formed. The floor is laid over ordinary brickwork, 
beneath which a coke pit is formed in many works, 
as at the Chartered, Phoenix, and several others. In 
the newer works, however, and generally, indeed, 
where the value of space is not excessive, none of the 
brickwork extends further below the floor of the 
retort house than is necessary to secure a good foun¬ 
dation. The furnace for firing the retorts is made at 
each end of the oven or tunnel, the grate being pro¬ 
portioned to the work to be done, a width of 12 in. 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


19 


and a length of fire-bars, in each furnace, of about 
30 in. or 3 ft. being a common allowance for a bench 
of seven retorts. Over the fire-bars is generally 
turned a small arch of fire-bricks, the heat bein«: led 
off on each side to act upon the retorts, around which 
it circulates in rising between the numerous partition 
walls previously described. The upper and lower 
retorts are separated from each other, for their whole 
length, by fire-bricks or tiles, the heat being seldom 
allowed to act directly upon the bottom of a retort, 
but more generally upon the sides and upon the top, 
where the heat is reverberated from the underside of 
the crown of the oven. After the retorts are in their 
places, the ovens are closed at both ends by brick¬ 
work built in and around the retorts, and out to the 
sides and top of the oven. The heat from the fur¬ 
nace, after rising on one side of a vertical tier of 
retorts, generally descends down the other side, what 
is left escaping into a flue below, which is in commu¬ 
nication with the chimney stalk. With clay retorts 
the heat is generally such that an iron damper in the 
main flue would be melted in a short time, and hence 
fire-clay dampers are employed. Even the chimneys, 
where built of common bricks, are generally cracked 
by the heat, and in one of the most recent gas-works 
in the neighbourhood of London—that of the Crystal 
Palace District Company—the chimney has been 
made of fire-brick throughout; the circular shaft, 
14 in. in thickness all around, being formed of radial 
bricks, bonded together at intervals of the height of 
the shaft, by rings of large fire-brick segments 4 in. 
thick. 


20 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


The side walls and arches of the furnaces (not 
those of the ovens) are frequently burnt out in from 
three to six months, although they may last for a 
year. The setting generally is such that they can be 
renewed without disturbing the retorts. The dura¬ 
bility of the retorts has already been touched upon. 
Three years is, perhaps, a fair lifetime for clay 
retorts worked at a high heat. The inner walls of 
the ovens should last for a number of years, say eight 
or ten. Whenever they require rebuilding every¬ 
thing set up within the oven must, of course, 
come out. 

It is customary to tie the brickwork of the retort 
benches together, both in the direction of the retorts 
and along the length of the retort house, by tie bolts, 
taking hold of u buck staves ” or clamps. With iron 
retorts there is, of course, considerable expansion on 
their first being heated, and it is well known that, 
under the action of heat, cast-iron dilates perma¬ 
nently—a cast-iron fire-bar, for example, gradually 
extending half an inch or more in length, although 
its elongation under any one heat may not amount to 
nearly as much. A 20 ft. cast-iron retort becomes, 
in this way, permanently elongated by from 3 in. to 
5 in., and its outward thrust in this expansion must 
of necessity be great. With clay retorts, however, 
especially if the clay be of a kind which does not 
increase in bulk on being heated (most clays contract 
by heat), there is little or no disruptive strain upon 
the brickwork, and at the Crystal Palace District and 
other gas-works, Mr. Christie has entirely dispensed 
with tie bolts and buck staves. 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


21 


The cast-iron mouth-pieces, upon which the sockets 
for the ascension pipes for conducting away the gas 
are cast, are generally fastened to the ends of clay 
retorts by bolts, which project from the clay through 
holes left for that purpose when the retort is moulded. 
Mr. Hughes, in his little work on gas-making, says : 

“ In preparing the end of the retort to have the 
mouth-piece attached, the end surface is chipped and 
notched with grooves like the surface of a millstone, 
in order to retain more firmly the cement filled in be¬ 
tween the retort and the flange of the mouth-piece. 
The cement used is the ordinary iron cement, com¬ 
pounded without sulphur, and mixed with an equal 
quantity of fire-clay. This mixture, made into the 
consistence of mortar, is spread evenly over the joint; 
the mouth-piece is then attached and screwed up, the 
recesses in which the bolts are sunk being filled with 
the same mixture.” 

For fire-brick retorts, socket mouth-pieces en¬ 
closing the end of the retort are used at the Char¬ 
tered Gas Company’s works, and at those of the 
South Metropolitan—that is to say, the end of the 
retort extends into a socket 4 in. or 5 in. in depth, 
cast upon the back of the mouth-piece, and generally 
three or more mouth-pieces with these sockets are 
cast together upon a single plate, which is held, by 
tie bolts, against the brickwork. At some other gas¬ 
works, where brick retorts are used, the mouth-pieces 
are made without sockets. The sockets would, per¬ 
haps, be found advantageous, even with ordinary clay 
retorts. Cases have been known where the expansion 
of the ascension pipes (through which the gas rises 


22 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


from the retort) lias been such as to lift the hydraulic 
main off its supports. In such cases a great strain 
must necessarily be thrown upon the mouth-piece 
joints, where a socket would afford great resistance 
against starting the bolts. 

The mouth-pieces, and thus the ends of the retorts, 
are closed by iron lids, either cast or wrought, the 
latter being preferable and in extensive use. Through 
a couple of ears, one on each side of the mouth¬ 
piece, two studs project outward, and through two 
slots, one in the outer end of each stud, a cross-bar is 
so placed as to be capable of ready removal. By a 
stout screw passing through the cross-bar, and press¬ 
ing against the centre of the lid, the latter, previously 
luted with wet lime, is made gas tight. 

We may now stop to examine the working of the 
retorts. Presuming that everything is in readiness, they 
are first very gradually heated for a number of hours, 
this process sometimes lasting for some days. The 
coal having been wheeled into the retort house, on 
both sides of the great main range of benches, so that 
the men can charge simultaneously at both ends of 
the retorts, the charging scoops are first filled. The 
scoop is of sheet-iron, not far from 10 ft. long, and of 
a size convenient for being run into and turned over 
in the retort, by means of an iron stalk with cross 
handles at the outer end of the scoop. About half of 
the coal intended to be charged at one mouth-piece is 
shovelled into the scoop, which is then lifted, run 
into the retort, there turned over, and immediately 
withdrawn, leaving the coal behind. A second 
scoopful being charged, the lid, previously served 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


23 


around the edges with wet lime, is applied—the 
cross-bar having been previously slipped into its 
place—and, by means of the tightening screw, a 
close joint is quickly made. The other end of the 
retort being similarly and simultaneously charged, 
the coal, already in course of decomposition, sends off 
its gas into the hydraulic main above. 

The amount of coal charged at a time, at one 
month-piece, varies in the different London gas¬ 
works from 1701b. to 2801b., or from 3401b. to a 
quarter of a ton to one long retort. From 1961b. 
(If cwt.) to 224 lb. is the more usual charge for 
16 in. retorts. Thus, when charged every six hours, 
the carbonising power of the 400 long retorts at the 
Horseferry-road station is about 380 tons, or possibly 
390 tons a day, and the 350 retorts (700 mouth¬ 
pieces) at the Goswell-street and Curtain-road works 
will get through 300 tons a day. With nearly 600 
long retorts at the Pancras station of the Imperial 
Company, about 500 tons can be carbonised daily; 
and we believe that, at the Hackney-road station of 
the same company, upwards of 425 tons of coal have 
gone through 386 retorts in a day of 24 hours. At 
the London Gas-works, too, we understand that 
about 300 tons of coal have been carbonised in one 
day, in 250 retorts. At the City Gas-works, and at 
the Commercial works, 1700 tons a week is about the 
maximum carbonising power of each, although the 
former has 920 and the latter but 540 mouth-pieces. 
At the Vauxhall station of the Phoenix Company, at 
the Great Central, and at the Equitable works, the 
maximum is about 1100 tons each every week. In 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


24 


every ease tlie retorts are charged every six hours. 
At the Western Gas-works, however, where only 
cannel gas is made, a considerable number of the 
retorts are worked on four-hour charges. 

For working the retorts it is customary to divide 
the men into gangs of five each. Three of these, who 
attend the retorts, are called carbonisers, or stokers, a 
fourth keeps up the fires in the furnaces, and the 
remaining man wheels the coal and coke on a barrow. 
To one of these gangs from 42 to 56 mouth-pieces 
are allotted, 50 being the number at the Goswell-street 
works, and 56 at the Crystal Palace District works. 
This allotment of mouth-pieces is not always in the 
same range of benches, and it sometimes happens 
that the men have to go from one retort house to 
another, to serve their full number of retorts. The 
men work 12 hours at a shift, for seven days in the 
week, with the exception of one, and sometimes two, 
Sundays in the month. The work is trying, espe¬ 
cially when u drawing,” or raking out the retorts; 
but this severe work is not continuous, the men 
having more than half of the whole time for rest. 
Thus, for every bench of 7 retorts, or rather 7 
mouth-pieces, at least three-quarters of an hour are 
allowed for charging and drawing, whereas it is not 
unusual for the work to be over in from 15 to 20 
minutes. In the hottest of the work the men fre¬ 
quently strip to the waist, and many will, while 
reeking with perspiration, stand under the open 
louvres in the roof, no matter how strong the draught. 
At many of the works the men are provided with an 
unlimited supply of a drink composed of oatmeal and 


THE GAS-WOEKS OF LONDON. 


25 


water, “ skilly,” and of which the carbonisers at the 
Chartered Gas-works (Horseferry-road) are found to 
consume an average of seven quarts each a day, so 
great , is the thirst occasioned by their work. One of 
the men at these works while incautiously drinking 
freely, not long since, of cold water when overheated, 
dropped dead to the ground. 

The pay of the head stoker of each gang of men is 
generally about 33s. a week (of 7 days), the other 
two stokers working under him receiving, say 30s., 
although the pay is not always as high as this. The 
firemen and coal-wheelers are usually paid about 24s. 
In the winter time, when the daily production of gas is 
nearly or quite fourfold what it is in summer, a gas¬ 
works with 300 long retorts would give employment 
in all to about 300 men, one-half working by day and 
the other by night. In the winter, therefore, be¬ 
tween 4000 and 5000 men are employed in the 19 
gas-works of London. In the spring, when the 
demand for, and consequent production of, gas begins 
to fall off, a large proportion of the stokers seek 
employment in the neighbourhood of London and in 
the country, generally in brickmaking. At this trade 
they will work all the summer, returning in the fall 
to their former place of employment. Many of the 
managers of the London gas-works can point out 
men who have worked for them in this manner, or 
u off and on,” for ten or a dozen years. At some of 
the works, as at the several stations of the Phoenix 
Company, rooms are fitted up for the use of the 
workmen in the intervals between u charging ” and 
u drawing.” At the Bankside station of the Phoenix 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


20 


Company there is a library of a few hundred 
volumes, and a daily newspaper, as well as several 
weeklies, are taken in for the use of the men. Good 
baths are also fitted up for their free use, after work¬ 
ing hours. The library and the baths were also set 
up at the extensive Vauxhall station of the same 
company, but it appears that all the books, lead pipe, 
and brass cocks gradually disappeared, until nothing 
was left. At the Hackney-road works of the Impe¬ 
rial Company, Mr. Clark has recently fitted up eight 
baths, hardly inferior in any respect to those of a 
first-class hotel; and we sincerely hope, for the 
welfare, as well as the credit of the men, that the 
fittings will be better respected than they were at 
Vauxhall. 

The production of gas commences the moment the 
coal is within the heated retort, and before the men 
can secure the lids a greater or less body of flame 
appears at the mouth-pieces, characteristic of the 
energy with which coal gas enters into combustion 
with air. The quantity of gas obtained from a ton of 
ordinary gas coal is commonly within the limits of 
9300 and 9500 cubic feet, although if the distillation 
were continued beyond the usual period of six hours, 
an additional quantity of gas would be obtained, but 
of inferior illuminating power. At the Surrey Con¬ 
sumers’Works, where the retorts are not worked at as 
high a heat as is adopted at some other establish¬ 
ments, we are informed that the yield of gas is some¬ 
what below 9000 ft. per ton, the illuminating power, 
however, being rather above the average. This dif¬ 
ference in the rate of production is believed to be due 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


27 


to tlie mode in which the retorts are set and worked. 
As previously described, the retort benches at Rother- 
hithe are in two stages, the tires, which are made to 
act first on the upper stage of six clay retorts, de¬ 
scending; afterwards to eight iron retorts below. This 
arrangement is found to be economical in respect of 
the quantity of coke consumed in firing, for, whereas, 
in all, or nearly all, the other gas-works in London, 
one-third of all the coke, left after the distillation of 
the gas, is burnt under the retorts, only one fourth 
of the whole quantity of coke made is burnt in the 
Surrey Consumers’ Works. The coke left on the 
distillation of a ton of coal is usually one chaldron of 
36 bushels, weighing between 13 cwt. and 14 cwt., or 
about two-thirds of the original weight of the coal 
before it went into the retorts. Thus, in the majority 
of the gas-works in London, one-third of 13^ cwt. or 
4-J cwt. of coke is burnt under the retorts for every 
ton of coal carbonised, the other two-thirds of all the 
coke made being sold at the rate of say 11s. a chaldron, 
equal to from 16s. to 17s. per ton. At the Surrey 
Consumers’ Works, therefore, hardly 3J cwt. of coke is 
burnt for every ton of coal put into the retorts, 10 
cwt., or three-fourths of a chaldron, remaining for 
sale. Every hundredweight of coke saved is worth 
10d., but if the saving is attended with a loss in the 
production of gas, of say 250ft., worth 13^cl., the 
economy must be altogether illusive. It has been 
said that when Mr. Croll’s system of combined clay 
and iron retorts was in use at the Great Central Con¬ 
sumers’Works, the expenditure of coke was sometimes 
as low as one-eighth of the whole quantity made, or 


28 


THE GAS-WOEKS OF LONDON. 


about 1J cwt. only for every ton of coal carbonised. 
However this may have been, and whether or no an 
average proportion of gas was obtained, the system 
has been abandoned, as it is likely to be also at the 
Surrey Consumers’ works at Rotherhithe. 

The heat on the retorts is commonly maintained 
between a cherry-red and a bright orange, clay re¬ 
torts being heated considerably above the temperature 
corresponding to a cherry-red heat on iron. By means 
of sight-holes, opening through the brickwork between 
the retorts, as also by the appearance of the retorts 
themselves, when opened for the purpose of drawing 
the charges, the firemen are enabled to judge of their 
temperature and to regulate the fires accordingly. At 
the Imperial Gas-works, at least at the Hackney-road 
station, the coke is fed red-hot from the retorts into 
the furnaces, although at most gas-works all the 
coke is quenched. 

Our readers will hardly require to be told that, 
besides gas, tar and ammoniacal liquor are produced 
in the retort during the distillation of the coal, and 
carried over into the mains and vessels into which the 
crude gas first passes. A ton of Newcastle coal will 
yield, in the ordinary course of gas-making, about ten 
gallons of tar, and an equal quantity of ammoniacal 
liquor. From cannel coal the quantities of each 
are about 14 gallons, the yield of gas being 11,500 
cubic feet per ton; and from cannel tar naphtha is 
distilled. We shall have occasion, however, again to 
refer to the treatment and value of the residual pro¬ 
ducts in question. 

“ Drawing” the retorts, at the end of every charge, 


i 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


29 


is simple enough, but in consequence of the heat it is 
a severe task for the men. At the end of the proper 
period of distillation, generally six hours, the lids are 
removed simultaneously from both ends of each bench, 
the first access of air being attended with the ex¬ 
plosion, in a voluminous flame, of the gas remaining 
in the retorts. The incandescent coke, much enlarged 
from the original bulk of the coal, and cohering in a 
single mass, has then to be quickly broken up and 
raked out upon the retort-house floor, iron rakes with 
long handles being employed in the work. The return 
of gas to the retorts is prevented by the self-sealing 
apparatus in the hydraulic main, to be presently de¬ 
scribed. 

Before leaving the retorts we may notice that the 
formation of carbonaceous scurf upon their internal 
surfaces, once the cause of so much trouble in gas¬ 
works, is now greatly lessened, possibly in conse¬ 
quence of the general use of exhausting apparatus, 
whereby hardly any pressure is now maintained in 
the retorts above the ordinary pressure of the atmo¬ 
sphere. With retorts worked under a high pressure, 
the deposition of carbon goes on rapidly. The use of 
double retorts opening at both ends has, furthermore, 
tended to prevent the accumulation of scurf, as, while 
the retorts are open for drawing and charging, the 
uninterrupted flow of air from end to end promotes 
the combustion of the carbon, thus keeping the in¬ 
ternal surfaces of the retorts tolerably clear. 

We may now follow the gas in its progress from 
the retort to the condensing and purifying apparatus. 
The stand-pipes, or ascension-pipes, from 4 in. to 6 in. 



30 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


in diameter, rise from the moutli-pieces as already 
explained, a socket being cast on each mouth-piece, in 
which the stand-pipe is secured by a rust-joint. There 
is almost always a stand-pipe rising from each end of 
a double-retort, although, in a few works, all the gas 
made in a 20-ft. retort has to find its way out at one 
end. Where cannel gas is made, a good deal of pitch 
is deposited on the insides of the stand-pipes, and at 
the Western Gas-works, where the retorts are charged 
every four hours, the stand-pipes need clearing out 
every time a cl large is drawn. 

By proper connexions the stand-pipes, which rise 
5 ft. or 6 ft. above the top of the bench of retorts, are 
bent over and downwards so as to enter the hydraulic 
main, a tube from 18 in. to 30 in. in diameter, and 
extending for the entire length of the retort-house, 
sometimes in front of the stand-pipes, but more com¬ 
monly behind them. Over a very large number of 
the retorts at the Pancras station of the Imperial Gas¬ 
works a single hydraulic main extends along the 
middle of the long range of benches, communicating 
with the ascension-pipes from both ends of each 
retort. At the Surrey Consumers’ works a single 
main is also used alono’ the middle of the contiguous 

O O 


benches. This plan is not to be recommended, how¬ 
ever, as if the main becomes obstructed, the whole 
works are stopped; whereas, with two mains to each 
range of retorts, the whole work can be thrown upon 
one while the other is being cleared out or repaired. 


In making cannel gas, at least at the Western Gas¬ 
works, the mains become choked with pitch in three 
or four months; whereas, with Newcastle coal, they 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LOKDON. 


31 


would not require clearing out oftener than once in 
as many years. The use of a single main, therefore, 
in a cannel gas-work, would be attended with some 
inconvenience, and the long inclined ascension-pipes, 
also required in that case, would cause additional 
trouble. 

The hydraulic main was formerly made of cast 
iron, and many cast iron mains are still in use, and 
possibly some gas engineers still prefer them. They 
are now, however, very commonly made of wrought 
iron plates, § in. in thickness. The Phoenix Company 
was among the first in London to employ wrought- 
iron mains. Theirs are 2 ft. in internal diameter, 
being circular in section, with the exception of a flat 
seat at the top for the attachment of the dip-pipes. 
At the Equitable, the Commercial, the Great Central, 
the Western, the Crystal Palace District, and, per¬ 
haps, at some others of the London gas-works, 
wrought-iron hydraulic mains are also adopted. The 
main at the Western Gas-works is made square in 
section, with removable doors or lids on the back to 
allow of clearing out the pitch, the rapid deposition 
of which has already been noticed. 

The hydraulic main is half filled, at first, with 
water, which is retained by a plate or weir fixed in 
the ends of the main in such manner that, upon any 
addition to its liquid contents, the excess flows over, 
through a descending pipe, into a collecting vessel 
below. The tar brought with the gas from the re¬ 
torts soon displaces a part of the water, and sinks to 
the bottom of the main, the ammonia uniting with 
the rest and floating on the surface, as ammoniacal 


32 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


liquor. Ammonia is a gas formed by the combina¬ 
tion of nitrogen with hydrogen, both constituents 
existing in the coal. Water absorbs ammonia with 
great avidity, and thus it is that the greater part of 
the ammonia produced in the distillation of gas-coal 
is arrested in the hydraulic main. 

The dip-pipes enter the top of the main through a 
tight joint and descend until their open mouths are 
2 J in. or 3 in. below the level of the ammoniacal liquor 
in the main. Thus the gas can only enter the main 
by displacing the liquid which, otherwise, would rise 
in the pipe to the same level on its inside as on its 
outside, and thus, too, when once in the main, the 
gas cannot possibly return to the dip-pipe. This 
simple arrangement was devised, we believe, by the 
late Mr. Clegg, and it does its author great credit. 
Known as the water joint, it is applied in the greater 
number of vessels employed in gas-making, the tar- 
trap, the condensers, the purifiers, and the gas-holders, 
in all of which the gas is retained without the possi¬ 
bility of escape by the simple interposition of a few 
inches of water between the edge of one pipe or 
vessel and that of another surrounding; or enclosing; it. 

From the hydraulic main to the condenser the gas 
passes simply through a pipe in connexion with a 
tar-trap for retaining the tar and ammoniacal liquor. 

In most of the London gas-works the gas passes 
from the main at once to the condenser, and after¬ 
wards to the exhauster, but at the City Gas-works, 
the London, the Phoenix, the South Metropolitan, 
and, possibly, some others, this order is reversed, the 
gas being exhausted directly from the main. At the 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


33 


several stations of tlie Chartered Gas Company both 
the condensers and scrubbers are placed between the 
main and the exhausters. We will, then, gdance first 
at the condensers, in which the gas drops the tar and 
ammoniacal liquor, or as much of it, at least, as 
escapes deposition in the hydraulic main. No one 
who has been over the nineteen gas-works of London 
would suppose that there was any sort of rule for the 
proportion between the condensing surface and the 
quantity of gas in motion. Something like five 
square feet of surface for every 1000 ft. of gas made 
in twenty-four hours has been insisted upon by some 
engineers; but others, we believe, manage with less 
than one-fourtli of the surface which this rule would 
allow. The greatest differences exist, also, in the 
mode in which the condensing surface is employed to 
cool the gas. Thus, at the South Metropolitan works, 
a circuit of perhaps 300 ft. or 350 ft. in length of 
18 in. pipe is carried to and fro in a cistern of water 
so intersected by partitions as to produce a gentle 
flow of water in a direction opposite to that in which 
the gas is moving. The principle is the same as that 
of the refrigerators used by brewers for cooling worts. 
At all the other works vertical condensing pipes, ex¬ 
posed to the atmosphere, are employed, but in occa¬ 
sional instances, as at the Great Central and the 
Crystal Palace District works, hollow pipes are 
employed, with the air circulating both outside and 
inside an annular space; and at many works water is 
allowed to drip over the pipes, at least, while the sun 
is out. The pipes are generally coated with gas tar, 
both as a protection against rust, and because a 

D 


34 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


black colour is the best for a rapid radiation of heat. 
At the Pancras station of the Imperial Company the 
condenser consists of 10 columns or pipes, each 3 ft. 
G in. in diameter, and painted red. There is, we are 
told, no internal air-pipe, and water is allowed to 
trickle over the condenser while the sun is out. We 
believe that the whole make of gas at these great 
works, sometimes amounting to nearly 5,000,000 
cubic feet in 24 hours, passes through this condenser, 
although its surface, we should suppose, hardly ex¬ 
ceeds 3500 square feet. There are many gas engi¬ 
neers who now object to a rapid condensation of the 
gas, on the ground that more of the carbon is likely 
to be precipitated as tar, and the gas thereby impover¬ 
ished. This view is taken, at least by engineers 
engaged in cannel gas-making, and we believe it is 
shared to some extent by makers of ordinary gas. 

The tar reservoirs below the condensing pipes are 
variously made. Sometimes, as at the Ratcliff Gas¬ 
works, a separate box is provided for each pair of 
pipes, but, more commonly, a long box is divided by 
partitions reaching down nearly to the bottom, the 
tar, contained in the box, preventing the direct 
passage of gas from one division to another. The 
condensing apparatus which, properly performing a 
given amount of work, and having ample strength 
and durability, weighs the least, is, one would suppose 
the best. The pipes are generally made as thin as 
they can be safely cast, and the tar boxes require 
but little more strength than suffices to prevent their 
being broken by accidental blows. The surface of 
the tar reservoir itself assists the cooling of the gas, 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


35 


but it is desirable to keep it of a moderate size. 
With thin castings, the partitions cast in to compel 
the gas to traverse the full circuit of the pipes no 
doubt afford a desirable stiffness of the boxes, but 
otherwise the condenser at the London Gas-works, 
Vauxhall, would be the simplest and, perhaps, the 
most preferable of those not having internal air-pipes. 
Here the bottom box is made without division plates, 
each pair of pipes being connected, in the open air, by 
a bend, from which a short pipe descends and passes 
through the cover of the box, well into the tar within. 

In some of the old condensers, with two parallel 
circuits or rows of pipes, the gas going first through 
one row and returning by the other, the juxtaposition 
of a warm and a cold pipe upon the same division of 
the bottom box has been found objectionable, and 
hence, where two parallel rows of pipes are used, it is 
now preferred to take the gas up one pipe in one row 
and down another in the other row, so that the two 
pipes rising from any one division of the tar box may 
have, as nearly as may be, the same temperature. 

All the joints about the condenser are made with 
flanges where required, the pipe joints being spigot 
and socket, made either with iron rust well caulked, 
or with yarn and lead. 

Those who are familiar with the mode of heating 
the blast for iron furnaces, might be disposed to 
wonder at the comparatively low temperature im¬ 
parted to the gas by the vast extent of highly heated 
surfaces of the retorts. In the heating ovens of blast 
furnaces a million cubic feet of air are often heated 
every hour to a temperature which will u cut lead,” 

D 2 


36 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


and it is occasionally the case that the air-pipes 
beyond the ovens become heated by the passing blast 
to a dull red. But, in a range of 150 long retorts, 
making little more than 50,000 cubic feet of gas per 
hour, and yet exposing several thousand square feet of 
surfaces heated with, say one ton of coke every hour, 
the temperature of the escaping gas is such that it is 
often drawn from the main directlv through the 
exhauster, without the least injury to the finished 
surfaces and delicate spring packing of that apparatus. 
In many of the condensers, too, even when placed 
between the main and the exhauster, the socket joints 
are made with tarred yarn and lead. The explana¬ 
tion of this moderation of temperature in the gas is 
to be found in the fact that, in the conversion from 
the solid to the aeriform state, a great amount of heat 
becomes latent. Were the retorts filled with air, it 
would soon become excessively heated, and a red heat 
on the mouth-pieces, lids, and even the ascension- 
pipes, would be a matter of course. But as soon as 
a portion of the gas already formed in the retort 
becomes hot, its heat is in a great measure absorbed 
by the nascent gas at the same instant issuing from 
the pores of the coal, and thus the temperature is 
constantly kept down to a point much below what 
might be expected if the amount of external heat 
applied were alone considered. 

From the condenser the gas is taken to the ex¬ 
hauster, except where, as already noted, the latter 
draws directly from the hydraulic main. Mr. Grafton, 
the original patentee of the clay retort, is said to have 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


37 


been the first to show that, by pumping the gas from 
the retorts, so as to relieve them from the accumulated 
resistance of all the water-joints which the gas 
encounters on its way thence to the gas-holder, the 
furring of the retorts with carbon was, in a great 
measure, prevented. This accumulated pressure often 
amounts to 33 in. of water, 28 in. being common, 
when we include the dip of the pipes through which 
the gas enters the hydraulic main. With exhausters 
a partial vacuum is often maintained in the main, so 
that if a small opening be made air will rush in 
instead of gas coming out. In the retorts, however, 
a very slight pressure, equal, say, to 1 in. or 2 in. of 
water, is maintained, the difference between this 
plenum and the partial vacuum in the hydraulic 
main being accounted for by the resistance offered to 
the gas by the dip of the pipes, say 3 in., into the tar 
in the main. 

The first exhausters were reciprocating pumps, a 
sheet-iron cylinder, open at the bottom, and having a 
flap valve opening upwards at the top, being made to 
work up and down, with its lower edge in water, 
around the rising end of a pipe, admitting the gas, 
and having also a valve, opening upwards, at its top, 
the whole apparatus being enclosed in a gas-tight 
case. Exhausters of this kind are still at work at 
the Pancras station of the Imperial Company’s works. 
They were very much cheaper in first cost than 
Beale’s exhausters now used; but the old plan finds 
few advocates now. The friction of the apparatus, 
although moving freely in water, was found to be 


38 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


I 


considerable, and it imparted objectionable fluctua¬ 
tions to the gas, causing the water-gauge and the 
lights at the burners to oscillate violently. 

Mr. Beale, of Greenwich, produced a rotatory steam- 
engine, many years ago, which by way of bantering 
a distinguished opponent of that class of motors, he 
named the a Anti-John Scott Russell Steam Engine.” 
A considerable number of these engines are still at 

O 


work, and there are many besides the patentee who 
have much faith in their ultimate triumph over recip¬ 
rocating engines. One of small power drives all 
the machinery in Mr. Beale’s own work-shop, at a 
very trifling cost for repairs, the expenditure of fuel 
being no more than for any ordinary engine of equal 
power. At the South Metropolitan Gas-works one 
of these engines is employed for driving the exhausters, 
and another for hoisting coal from the canal boats 
coming up alongside. But Mr. Beale has found 
altogether the best market for his engines among 
the gas companies, who purchase them for exhausters. 
Every gas company in London, with the exception of 
the Equitable and the Great Central Consumers’, 
uses them, the motive power, in the majority of cases 
being a little upright trunk engine of neat design 
and fine workmanship, made by Mr. Beale, and fitted 
up on the same base-plate with the exhauster. At 
the South Metropolitan Gas-works, however, as 
already mentioned, one of Mr. Beale’s rotatory engines 
is employed to drive the exhausters, and at the 
several works of the Chartered and Phoenix Com¬ 
panies, and at the Commercial, Western, and perhaps 
some other works, they are driven by separate beam 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


39 


engines, generally by Scotch builders, the latter being 
a fact for which we cannot exactly account. 

Mr. Beale’s exhauster consists of a stationary cylin¬ 
drical case, with a horizontal axis, within which re¬ 
volves a shaft, placed eccentrically with respect to the 
axis of the case, and carrying, two flat plates or pistons 
adjusted to fit accurately to the internal surface of the 
case. The principle is identical with that of the 
majority of rotatory engines and pumps. The tarry 
particles which, even after the gas has passed the con¬ 
denser, follow it to the scrubbers, keep the wearing 
surfaces of the exhauster well lubricated. 

The exhausters are generally placed by themselves 
in an apartment making considerable pretensions to 
elegance. In one respect, therefore, those who de¬ 
light in strong contrasts might derive much pleasure 
from a visit to some of the m'eat sms-works of London 
—let us say the Pancras and Hackney-road stations 
of the Imperial Company, or the Commercial Gas¬ 
works at Stepney. From the smutty interior of the 
retort-house, and from the ammoniacal stench of the 
out-door premises generally, to say nothing of the 
overpowering fumes from the sulphate of ammonia 
apparatus in works provided with that profitable ad¬ 
junct, the visitor may retreat into an apartment fit for 
a nobleman’s dining-room, well ventilated and bearing 
evidence, on all sides, of an amount of taste and scru¬ 
pulous neatness which, the commercial man would 
conclude, were strangely misapplied in a gas-works. 
We will not mention the works, but there are a 
number, and among them some of the most profitable 
gas-making concerns in the metropolis, where, instead 


40 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


of being the glory of the establishment, the exhaust¬ 
ing-room is its disgrace. But let us pass on, merely 
noting that the exhausters are generally worked with 
a partial vacuum, corresponding to 1 in. or 2 in. of 
water below the atmosphere on one side, and against 
a pressure of from 24 in. to 30 in. on the other. 

At most of the gas-works of the metropolis scrubbers 
are employed, a few, as the London, the Phoenix, and 
the City, having washers, the London, at Vauxhall, 
having no scrubbers, while the two others named have 
both scrubbers and washers. In the scrubber the last 
particle of tar is supposed to be taken up, and the 
means for arresting this impurity consist of a thick 
layer or a series of layers of coke contained in a close 
vessel, and exposing a great aggregate surface to the 
gas. At the Phoenix works broken crockervware is 
preferred to coke, as, after having become coated with 
tar, the former may be thoroughly cleansed by turn¬ 
ing, when required, on a blast of steam for a few 
minutes, which melts and separates the tar, leaving 
the broken dinner-plates and old bottle glass to be 
used ad infinitum. In many works, the coke is con¬ 
stantly sprinkled with water, admitted through two 
or more tubular radial arms, revolving, by the reaction 
of the water, in the manner of the arms of a Barker’s 
mill, the water being discharged through a number of 
small holes, as in the spargers used by the brewers for 
washing the extract out of the mashed grains of malt. 
At the Horseferry-road station of the Chartered Gas 
Company, the gas is subjected to three separate scrub¬ 
bings, at different stages in the whole process. Here, 
however, the scrubbers are lined with lead, and the 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


41 


liquid employed in them is diluted sulphuric acid, first 
admitted at a specific gravity of 1.030, and worked 
over and over the coke until the density has risen 
to 1.210, when a fresh solution of acid is substituted. 
For one of the large scrubbers somewhere about 300 
gallons of dilute acid are employed at a time, a pump 
made throughout of lead, mixed with a little anti¬ 
mony to give hardness to its substance, being used to 
pump up the acid from the bottom and into a reservoir 
at the top, whence it falls again, streaming through a 
lead plate perforated with a great number of small holes. 
The acid solution becomes in this way saturated with 
the ammonia present in the gas, and is then evaporated 
for sulphate of ammonia, a salt in request by alum and 
manure manufacturers, and bringing from 13/. 5s. 
to 13/. 10s. a ton, the commercial sulphuric acid em¬ 
ployed in the process costing about 7/. a ton. The 
ammoniacal liquor is treated also for the manufacture 
of the same salt. A similar apparatus is employed at 
the Crystal Palace District works. At the London, 
and at the Surrev Consumers’ works, the ammoniacal 
liquor from the main is first boiled in an iron boiler, 
and what goes over is taken into a lead tank, where it 
is saturated with its equivalent of sulphuric acid, and 
evaporated by steam contained in lead pipes which are 
made to traverse the tank close to the bottom. At 
most or all of the other works the ammoniacal liquor 
is sold to the manufacturing chemists. At the City 
Gas-works, where both scrubbers and washers are 
used, the latter are supplied with a solution of hydro¬ 
chloride of manganese to the strength of 32 on Twad- 
del’s hydrometer, and after this solution has become 


42 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON - . 


saturated with ammonia it is sold to the chemists, who 
evaporate it for sal - ammoniac (chloro-hydride of 
ammonia). 

In gas making there are produced about ten gal¬ 
lons of ammoniacal liquor for every ton of coal car¬ 
bonised. In some situations it has been found dif¬ 
ficult to dispose of this liquor as a gift; and although 
chemists understand its value, gas engineers have not 
generally been so well aware of what might be made 
of it as to prevent their making long contracts for the 
sale of their ammoniacal liquor at very low prices. 
Some years ago, one of the London companies entered 
into a contract with a well known chemist, who was 
to have the- whole of their ammoniacal liquor for 
fourteen years, at Is. 6d. per butt of 108 gallons, 
equal to about lfd. on every ton of coal carbonised. 
The purchaser, who converted the liquor into sal am¬ 
moniac (cliloroliydride of ammonium), sulphate of 
ammonia, &c., at an enormous profit, could have 
afforded to pay 5s. or more a butt, and this fact is at 
last becoming known among gas companies, and a 
few have already taken advantage of it. 

If a gallon of ammoniacal liquor, of average strength, 
be mixed with, or u saturated" with about 11 oz. of 
sulphuric acid, and the mixture be then evaporated, 
about 1 lb. of sulphate of ammonia will be obtained. 
The last named substance sells for from 13/. to 14/. 
per ton to manure makers, and alum makers, and a 
few years ago it brought 20/. Sulphuric acid is, 
generally, more or less diluted, commercial acid of a 
specific gravity of 1.728 containing 80 per cent, of 
absolute acid. The price is fixed upon the latter only, 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


43 


and is, say, fd. per pound, or 7 1. per ton, and for every 
ton of absolute acid used 1 ton 14 cwt. of sulphate, 
worth say 22/., may generally be made. Beyond the 
cost of the acid, and the slight interest upon an in¬ 
expensive plant, the cost of manufacture is practically 
nothing. The waste steam of a small non-condensing 
engine, employed to drive the exhausters, serves for 
evaporating the solution, and the attendance required 
is only occasional, and such as a stoker, or any other 
labourer, chiefly engaged upon other work can easily 
supply. 

There are various modes, as practised at three of 
the London, and one of the suburban gas-works, of 
obtaining the required mixture of ammonia and sul¬ 
phuric acid. At the Horseferry-road station of the 
Chartered Gas Company sulphate of ammonia is made, 
not only from the ammoniacal liquor, but from the 
water employed in the scrubbers. The scrubbers are 
lined with lead, and a very dilute solution of sulphuric 
acid is employed in them to take up the ammonia in 
the gas. The acid solution is pumped up by means 
of pumps formed of lead and antimony, and is allowed 
to fall in a shower through the scrubber, being thus 
re-pumped in each of two scrubbers worked one after 
the other until the specific gravity of the solution is 
considerably increased. The solution is then evapo¬ 
rated. At the London Gas-works the ammoniacal 
liquor is boiled in a common steam boiler. The boil¬ 
ing expels the ammonia, leaving only water (by no 
means fit for domestic purposes or drinking) behind. 
The ammonia goes over into a leaden vessel, partly 
filled with sulphuric acid, and the acid, thus saturated, 


44 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


is afterwards evaporated. At the Surrey Consumers’ 
Gas-works a somewhat different system is pursued, 
and as this is the same in all essential respects as that 
adopted at the Crystal Palace District Gas-works, 
where a very complete, although cheap apparatus was 
fitted up some three years ago, we will describe the 
latter. The works, erected under the direction of Mr. 
Robert M. Christie, the company’s consulting engi¬ 
neer, had, in 1863, 231 mouthpieces, equal to as many 
7 ft. 6 in. retorts, and were capable therefore of pro¬ 
ducing upwards of 900,000 cubic ft. of gas in twenty- 
four hours. The ammoniacal liquor and tar are 
pumped up into a large tank, in which the tar settles 
to the bottom. The liquor is let on, from time to 
time, into a closed cast-iron vessel, lined with lead, 
and called the saturator. The vessel is 8 ft. square 
and for its principal portion is 12 in. deep. At two 
opposite sides a chamber 8 ft. long and 12 in. wide is 
raised to a further height of 18 in., so that the total 
depth at the two opposite sides is 2 ft. 6 in. The 
liquor rises a couple of inches or so in these 
chambers. All the gas made at the works enters 
one of these chambers through a 12 in. main; and 
forcing its way through the ammoniacal liquor, 
comes up into and escapes from the opposite 
chamber. Sulphuric acid is constantly dripped into 
the saturator, combining, not only with the am¬ 
monia, already in the liquor, but with that, also, taken 
out of the gas passing through the apparatus ; ammo¬ 
niacal liquor itself being a powerful agent for the 
purification of gas from ammonia. After the liquor 
has become saturated, to the right degree, it is drawn 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


45 


off into one of a couple of open subsiding tanks 
underneath the saturator. These are of deals lined 
with sheet lead, and are 11 ft. long, 3 ft. 7 in. wide, 
and 3 ft. 6 in. deep, inside measure, and at their 
bottoms they are 3 ft. above the ground. After the 
saturated liquor has settled, dropping any tar deposited 
by the gas, it is drawn off into the evaporator. This 
is an open cistern, made of deals, and lined with 
sheet lead. It is 18 ft. long, 6 ft. wide, and 12 in. 
deep. The saturated liquor is let in to nearly the 
full depth. Within the evaporator is a series of 
parallel lead pipes, 3 in. in external diameter, J in. 
thick, and having a united length of about 100 lineal 
feet. These pipes are about 4 in. from the bottom of 
the evaporator, at one end, where the waste steam 
from the engine enters them, and about 2 in. from the 
bottom at the other end. The steam warps the pipes 
considerably, and the acid acts upon them, but those 
under notice have already gone three years, which 
may be reckoned as the limit for their average service. 
The evaporator is placed just over four shallow open 
cisterns, formed into a rectangle of 18 ft. by 12 ft. 
These are also made of deals and lined with sheet 
lead. They are 18 in. deep, and each has a u well” 
in the floor, 2 ft. by 18 in., and 15 in. deep. After 
the ammoniacal solution has been sufficiently evapo¬ 
rated, which is shown by the formation of a film upon 
it, it is run out into one of the cooling tanks, just 
described, and within which the sulphate crystalises 
in white needles. On first commencing to evaporate 
an excessive quantity of acid will be required to pro¬ 
duce crystallisation, unless half a hundred weight of 


46 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDOK. 


sulphate, ready made, be placed in the evaporator to 
form a u mother liquorand the evaporator should 
never be entirely emptied, except when this is necessary 
for repairs. A hood may be cheaply constructed and 
erected over the evaporator, and the offensive vapour 
which attends the process may he conducted thence 
into the nearest chimney. After the sulphate is 
crystallised in one of the four cooling tanks, which are 
to be worked in rotation, one every other day or so, 
the sulphate is placed upon an inclined strainer, 3 ft. 
square, to drain. As the salt is sold by weight, the 
draining is not allowed to proceed too far, a little 
moisture being turned over to the purchaser. 

The whole cost of the plant described was under 
250k About 12 cwt. of lead pipe was used, while 
the open vessels formed of deals, the subsiding tanks, 
evaporator, and cooling tanks, are lined with lead, 
varying from 6 lb. to 8 lb. per square foot. At the 
present rate of working of the Crystal Palace District 
Gas-works, about tons of sulphate are made weekly, 
giving a clear profit of at least 9d. for every ton of 
coal carbonised. On an average of six months’ work, 

O 7 

Ilf oz. of absolute acid (100 per cent, of strength) 
were used for each gallon of ammoniacal liquor made, 
a large part of the acid going to saturate the ammonia 
taken directly from the gas. For every pound of 
absolute acid used (value fd.) 1 lb. 11 oz. of sulphate 
were made. 

There is a question, whether gas is not impover¬ 
ished by direct exposure to sulphuric acid. The 
injury, if it be one, is certainly not conspicuous, but 
careful investigation into the matter is still going on, 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 4 7 

y clicinists giving it their attention. If 

gas is injured by sulphuric acid, it remains to pass 
the gas through ammoniacal liquor only to take off the 
ammonia of the former, and to then evaporate the 
liquor afterwards. 

Those curious as to motors may be interested to 
know that, at the City Gas-works, the agitators in the 
washers are worked by an overshot water-wheel, for 
which the water is pumped up, at high tides, by a 
steam-engine. The washers require to be constantly 
in motion, and, were they driven by steam, an engine- 
man would have to be always in attendance. As it is, 
the engine pumps up enough water in a few hours to 
supply the wheel for a whole day. The w T heel is not 
far from 25 ft. in diameter, but exceedingly light, and 
the water is let on to the top buckets through three 
pipes, each perhaps 1 in. or 1J in. in diameter, and 
placed one in advance of another, so as to discharge 
into three buckets at the same time. The work to be 
done is very light, the agitators, once in motion, taking 
the liquid around with them, and which, indeed, only 
requires to be kept in motion to prevent the deposi¬ 
tion of the hydro-chloride of manganese in solution. 

Another curious mode of obtaining power was re¬ 
sorted to some years ago, at the Johnstone Gas-works, 
near Glasgow, a small fan being placed in the chimney, 
where it was worked by the strong draught, and 
thereby made effective as a motor for driving the 
exhausters. 

We have followed the process of gas-making up to 
the purifiers. Coal gas contains many impurities, as 
ammonia, sulphuretted hydrogen, carbonic acid, bi- 


48 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


sulphide of carbon, &c. The ammonia is removed 
by passing the gas through water, as in the scrubbers 
already noticed, and which are thus properly to be 
included with the purifying apparatus. The term 
u purifier,” however, is technically applied only to 
those vessels in which the gas is freed from sul¬ 
phuretted hydrogen, one of the most offensive impu¬ 
rities of all. Dr. Henry and Mr. Clegg were the 
first, more than fifty-five years ago, to employ lime 
for the purification of gas, and Mr. Clegg soon after 
adopted the separate purifying vessels, the first appli¬ 
cation of the lime having been in the tank of the gas¬ 
holder itself, from which the saturated material could 
only be withdrawn with much inconvenience. Lime, 
both as a hydrate and in solution, has a strong affinity 
for sulphuretted hydrogen, with which it forms a 
hydro-sulpliuret of lime, in itself an exceedingly 
offensive compound. Wet lime purifiers have been 
much used, the solution being in the proportion of one 
bushel of slaked lime to twenty-four or twenty-five 
gallons of water. Through this mixture, kept in 
constant agitation, the gas was made to pass, rising, 
thence, practically purified and fit for lighting, into 
the gas-holder. The removal, when necessary, of the 
spent lime was a disagreeable task, and except great 
care was taken, the stench extended over the whole 
neighbourhood. 

At the present time there are, we believe, three 
gas-works in London, viz. the Vauxhall and Bank- 
side stations of the Phoenix Company, and the Cur¬ 
tain-road works of the Chartered Company, where 
wet lime is employed in the purifiers. At the Phoenix 


TIIE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


49 


Company’s works the spent lime is run into tanks 
under the retorts, and the waste heat sent over it, so 
as to evaporate the fluid portion, which goes up the 
chimney-stack in vapour, leaving the lime in a com¬ 
paratively inoffensive state behind. At the Bankside 
station the heat was originally applied beneath the 
waste lime tanks; but this baked the lime upon their 
bottoms, so that, after a short time, little heat could 
pass through to the fluid portion at the top of the 
tank. A change was therefore made, and the heat 
reverberated from the crowns and sides of the arches, 
under the benches of retorts, full upon the surface of 
the lime ; and this plan has answered very well. At 
the Vauxliall station the heat first strikes down upon 
the top of the lime, afterwards passing along the 
bottom of the tanks. With these arrangements the 
Phoenix Company’s works are not worse, in point of 
smell, than those of the other London companies, the 
characteristic odour of purified coal gas and the 
pungent scent of ammonia being about all that a visitor, 
with ordinary olfactory acuteness, would be likely to 
notice in this respect. 

The purifying agent now generally adopted at the 
various gas-works of London is a hydrated oxide of 
iron. Edward Heard, who patented the use of lime, 
for purifying coal gas, as long ago as 1806, pointed 
out that, among other substances, metallic oxides, 
including that of iron, would take up and retain 
sulphuretted hydrogen. But from the best authori¬ 
ties it appears that some of the other oxides men¬ 
tioned by Heard would not arrest the impurity in 
question, so that his knowledge of the action of all 

E 


50 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


the oxides must have been imperfect. Afterwards, 
in 1840, Mr. Croll took out a patent, chiefly for the 
purification of gas from ammonia; but he stated in 
his specification that the sulphur might be arrested by 
the black oxide of manganese, or by the oxide 
of zinc, or the oxides of iron. As, however, an 
anhydrous oxide of iron will not act upon sulphu¬ 
retted hydrogen, Mr. Croll’s specification and claim 
were manifestly incomplete. Mr. Laming, in one of 
his patents, afterwards pointed out the advantage of 
employing oxide of iron with chloride of calcium in 
purifying gas, but nothing appears to have been done 
to bring artificially hydrated oxides of iron into use 
for the purposes of purification, until Mr. Frank 
Clarke Hills, of Deptford, began to introduce them, 
under his patent of Nov. 28th, 1849. On the pas¬ 
sage of the gas through the oxide, the latter and the 
sulphuretted hydrogen are mutually decomposed, the 
oxide giving up its oxygen which unites with the 
hydrogen of the sulphuretted hydrogen, the sulphur 
at the same time uniting with the iron, forming a 
sulphuret of iron. Could this decomposition be 
effected but once, so that the de-oxidised purifying 
material could not again be used, the cost of a 
metallic oxide would preclude its use altogether. But 
in consequence of a chemical re-combination which, 
according to Dr. Ure, was first observed by Mr. 
Frederick J. Evans, the manager of the Horseferry- 
road station of the Chartered Gas Company, the 
sulphuret of iron precipitates its sulphur on exposure 
to the air, and again combines with oxygen, occa¬ 
sionally with such energy as to take fire. Thus 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


51 


revivified, the oxide of iron may be used ami in and 
again, often for thirty or forty times. We have, indeed, 
heard that the natural oxide used at the Horseferry- 
road works is used sixty or seventy times over before 
it becomes too inert to render further service. Every 
time the sulphuret of iron is revivified to the condi¬ 
tion of an oxide it precipitates its sulphur, which 
remains in mechanical mixture with the mass, and in 
this way the weight of the whole finally becomes 30 
or 40 per cent, greater than the original weight of 
the oxide, the excess being sulphur alone. Notwith¬ 
standing this presence of sulphur in the revivified 
material, the gas does not take it up in fresh com¬ 
bination. Any quantity of gas might, indeed, be 
passed through crushed sulphur without becoming at 
all sulphuretted. 

Mr. Hills’s prepared oxide, containing also a little 
sawdust, is in general use among the London gas 
companies, although the Chartered Company employ 
a natural bog-iron ore from Sligo and Donegal, while 
the Surrey Consumers’ have used cast-iron borings 
well rusted, and mixed with copperas (sulphate of 
iron) and sawdust. The purifying material, in all 
cases reduced to a coarse granular powder, is placed, 
o-enerallv in layers, inside a succession of gas-tight 
vessels, known as the purifiers, the gas entering at 
the bottom of one purifier, rising through the porous 
mass of purifying material, and escaping through one 
side of the vessel near the top, and passing thence to 
another. In some works the oxide is placed in a 
single layer, 3 ft. or 4 ft. in depth, but it is more 
commonly divided into three or four layers, from 


52 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


12 in. to 18 in, each in depth. An additional thin 
layer of dry slaked lime is often added to take up 
whatever carbonic acid may he present in the gas. 

The purifying vessels are of cast-iron, of a size cor¬ 
responding to the quantity of gas to be dealt with. At 
the Commercial Gas-works, where the greatest pro¬ 
duction of gas is not far from 2,500,000 cubic feet 
per day, there are four purifiers, each 24 ft. square and 
6 ft. deep, the oxide being placed in three layers, each 
about 18 in. deep. A square purifier is not, perhaps, 
the most convenient for emptying, inasmuch as the 
men have to shovel to a greater distance from the 
centre than if a rectangular form were adopted. The 
largest purifiers we have seen are at the Imperial 
Company’s works at Fulham, their size being 20 ft. 
by 36 ft., but the oxide is placed in very shallow layers, 
and has to be charged very often. The Commercial 
Company are about erecting two purifiers, each 18 ft. 
by 30 ft. It is sometimes the practice to work the gas 
successively through three purifiers, the remaining one 
out of the set of four being laid off for changing the 
oxide, or any casual repairs. The distribution of gas 
among the several purifiers in a set, is managed with 
ease by means of valves in pipes communicating with 
each vessel. The lid of the purifier is always made 
of plate-iron, with a flange depending at the edge and 
entering a water-cup extending around the cast-iron 
sides of the purifier itself. This makes a water-joint, 
and at the same time permits of the lid being raised 
to get at the oxide whenever it requires changing. In 
some cases, as with the great purifiers at Fulham, the 
lids require to be counterweiglited, and, in all cases, 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


53 


means are required for hoisting the lids clear of the 
purifiers. A stout framing is sometimes erected around 
and over them, so as to give a point of attachment for 
the lifting tackle. Where a set of purifiers are placed 
in a continuous row, a railway is formed of a gauge 
sufficient to include the whole width of the range, and 
a travelling platform provided with hoisting gear is 
mounted upon the rails. Before a lid can be lifted, 
and after the gas has been shut off from the entering 
main, it is necessary to open a man-hole or other 
opening in the lid, so as to admit the air to the puri¬ 
fier, as, otherwise, the suction in raising a surface of 
from 300 to 700 square feet, against an unbalanced 
atmospheric resistance equal to a pressure of even 
5 in. of water, would be from 3J tons to 8^ tons. 

The layers of oxide, previously moistened, are sup¬ 
ported on gratings or u sieves/' as they are called, 
which were orginally made of cast-iron, and are made 
so yet, at the Horseferry-road and the Gos well-street 
(Brick-lane) stations of the Chartered Gas Company. 
The sulphur precipitated in the oxide acts so power¬ 
fully, however, upon the cast-iron grates as to eat 
them away in a short time, often in less than two 
months. For this reason wooden sieves are now used 
in nearly all the gas-works of London, or in all with 
the exception of the two just noted, and in the Phoenix 
Company’s works, where only lime is employed in 
purifying. At the Chartered Company’s works, how¬ 
ever, we learn that the wooden sieves became hot, and 
were warped and charred in the purifiers, so that iron 
sieves are still employed, notwithstanding their rapid 
corrosion by sulphur. 


54 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


The length of time during which the oxide, in 
a succession of purifiers, retains its desulphurising 
virtue, depends on the relative quantities of the oxide 
and gas brought together, as well as on the degree of 
impurity in the gas and upon the original quality of 
the oxide itself. It is common to pass the gas through 
two purifiers, and when the oxide first acted upon 
becomes converted into a sulphuret, to turn the gas 
into the second and third purifier, the first, in the 
meantime, being laid off to be opened. The second 
and third are then worked together until the oxide in 
the second becomes inert, when the third and fourth 
are placed in communication, the next change being 
to connect the fourth and first, passing the gas from 
the former to the latter, and so on. At the Gfoswell- 
street station of the Chartered Company, where na¬ 
tural bog-iron ore from Sligo is used for purifying, it 
is broken up and mixed with a little quick lime to 
take up the moisture which it contains, and also to 
attract whatever carbonic acid may be in the gas. The 
oxide is then placed in four layers of 9 in. each in 
each purifier. The latter, we should suppose, are not 
far from 15 ft. by 20 ft. each, although we are unable 
to give their exact size. With this quantity from 
6,000,000 to 8,000,000 cubic feet of gas are passed 
through two purifiers at each charge of oxide, equal 
to three or four days’ full produce of the establish¬ 
ment. That is, from 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 cubic 
feet of gas will be passed through say the first and 
second purifiers, and afterwards the same quantity 
through the second and third, the second purifier re¬ 
quiring to be charged afresh at the end of the passage 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


55 


of 6,000,000 or 8,000,000 feet of gas through it, and 
the others successively in the same manner. Of 
course there is no such thing as a fixed proportion 
between the oxide used and the gas purified; the 
engineer is guided wholly by the test for sulphuretted 
hydrogen, which is that of holding, for a few seconds 
in a stream of the gas, a paper previously dipped in a 
solution of acetate of lead, or, still better, in a solution 
of nitrate of silver. If any sulphuretted hydrogen be 
present in the gas, the paper will be blackened by the 
precipitation of metallic lead or silver. Whenever the 
gas shows foul, the purifiers had better be charged 
afresh as quickly as possible. For ammonia, the test 
is turmeric paper, which, if the impurity in question 
be present, will be changed on its exposure to the gas, 
from its proper yellow colour to a deep red or brown. 

When the spent purifying material, converted from 
an oxide to a sulphuret of iron, is taken from the 
purifiers, it is spread in layers on the ground, or on 
boards, either in the open air or under sheds, and thus 
exposed to the action of the atmosphere. The black, 
tarry appearance which characterises the sulphuret 
gradually changes to a brown, and, finally, to the 
rusty red peculiar to the original oxide, the material 
being in the meantime occasionally turned over with 
a shovel. The precipitation of sulphur and the re¬ 
sumption of oxygen are occasionally so rapid, espe- 

ciallv when the material has been used but a few 
«/ 

times, that it smoulders, and even enters upon active 
inflammation. In the latter case the sulphurous 
vapour is almost overpowering. At the Horseferry- 
road station of the Chartered • Company, the spent 


56 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON”. 


material is revivified upon an extensive grated floor¬ 
ing, down through which a current of air is main¬ 
tained by the powerful draught of one of the chimneys, 
132 ft. high, on the works. After being employed a 
number of times, the accumulation of free sulphur, in 
mixture with the oxide, is such that, if a small quan¬ 
tity of the whole be mixed with chlorate of potash 
and struck upon an anvil, it will explode with great 
violence. The accumulation is represented, indeed, 
as already stated, by an increase of from thirty to 
forty per cent, upon the original weight of the oxide. 

When saturated with sulphur the oxide is sent to 
Mr. Hills, the patentee, who finds some good use for 
it, and by which it partly pays for the fresh material 
returned in its stead. 

The labour required for emptying and charging the 
purifiers every few days is costly enough to have in¬ 
duced some gas engineers to attempt the revivification 
of their purifying material in the purifiers them¬ 
selves. This is accomplished by shutting off the gas 
from the inlet main, raising the lid, and then drawing 
air downwards through the layers of de-oxidised and 
sulphuretted material, by means of an exhauster in 
communication with a pipe at the bottom of the 
purifier. At the Surrey Consumers’ works, where 
Mr. Croll’s heavy mixture of iron borings, copperas, 
and sawdust is used, and which seldom, if ever, 
catches fire, this plan is found to answer very well. 
But at the South Metropolitan works, where Mr. 
Livesey has tried it with Hills’ oxide, there was too 
great a tendency to spontaneous combustion, in which 
the wooden gratings or sieves would have disappeared 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


57 


like tinder. At the London Gas-works, where air 
pipes have been laid on and an exhauster fitted up 
for revivifying in the purifiers, Mr. Watson does not 
appear to have enough confidence in the plan to adopt 
it in everyday work. The possible fate of the wooden 
sieves, upon which there is no insurance, stands much 
in the way of the attempt. At the Commercial works, 
however, Mr. Jones has his apparatus in readiness, 
and may have already commenced, indeed, to revivify 
Hills’ oxide in his purifiers. 

We ought here to notice the presence of the vapour 
of napthaline in gas, and which begins, indeed, to 
deposit in thin, micaceous-looking scales of exceeding 
lightness, almost at the moment when the gas leaves 
the purifiers. Indeed, large patches of naphthaline 
flakes may often, if not generally, be found on the 
undersides of the lids of the purifiers themselves, and 
this singular substance will often choke the largest 
main so as almost entirely to prevent the passage of 
the gas. A blast of steam turned into the mains will 
disperse the obstruction like snow, but a sort of chim- 
nev-sweeping contrivance, called a u cat,” is oftener 
employed to open the great routes of communication 
between the gas-works and the consumers. Fortu¬ 
nately, too, naphthaline is seldom deposited at any 
considerable distance from the works, and it can 
generally be cleared without going off the premises. 

As to the cause of the deposition of naphthaline 
from gas, there are various opinions, some attributing 
it to certain electrical conditions of the atmosphere, 
but others, and by far the greater number, refer it to 
over-purification and to the want of sufficient density 


58 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


iii the gas. Some of the most experienced gas 
engineers in London have told us that there was no 
trouble with naphthaline until the ordeal of official 
tests was established. Then it was, with increased 
energy in the purifying departments, and with heavier 
bills for oxide of iron and lime, that the “ cat,” or a 
blast of steam, had to be sent, every few weeks, 
through the mains leading out of the works. “ Send 
out a little sulphuretted hydrogen,” we hear, “and 
there will be no trouble with naphthaline.” Of this 
we are not sure, but most gas engineers appear to be 
agreed that “ rich ” gas seldom, if ever, drops naph¬ 
thaline. The Western Gas Company, who make only 
cannel gas, are never, or rather their engineer, Mr. 
Pritchard, is never troubled with naphthaline; indeed, 
from his own experience, he would never know what 
that troublesome substance really is. So at other 
works, it is understood that a few thousand feet of 
cannel gas sent through a main obstructed with naph¬ 
thaline will clear it out completely, and a little Wigan, 
or Methyl cannel, or, best of all, a few hundred¬ 
weight of Boghead, will effectually clear any pipe in 
which naphthaline has formed. One of the most 
observing gas engineers in London informs us, too, 
that naphthaline is particularly liable to form where 
very small coal or “slack” is used for gas makino-. 
and that with large coal there is much less trouble. 

We have followed the purification from ammonia 
by water, that from sulphuretted hydrogen by oxide 
of iron or lime, and that from carbonic acid also by 
lime. In each case the removal of the offensive or 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


59 


debilitating matter should be complete, as with 
thorough exposure not a trace is left. But nothing, 
we believe, has been found commercially adequate to 
the removal of bi-sulphide of carbon from gas. From 
this compound the sulphur is only given up in burn¬ 
ing, and with the consequent formation of sulphurous 
acid. A great deal of research and ingenuity have 
been expended in the attempt to remove this, the last 
stronghold of sulphur in gas, and a year or two ago, 
many were led to believe that a Rev. Mr. Bowditch 
had really effected what was wanted by passing the 
gas over red-hot lime. We have not, however, heard 
much of this plan lately, and we are, therefore in¬ 
clined to suppose that it has not answered any prac¬ 
tical purpose. But, after all, what does the presence 
of bi-sulphide of carbon in gas really amount to? 
One of the ablest chemists in London, Mr. Yers- 
mann, already so well-known that we need hardly 
say he was for several years the valued assistant of 
Professor Graham, made a report in 1861 to Mr. 
Robert Jones, the engineer of the Commercial Gas¬ 
works, on the presence of bi-sulphide of carbon in 
the gas made by those and other works. As the 
question is one of much interest among gas engineers 
we feel warranted in entering somewhat fully upon 
Mr. Versmann’s report. We may first give his own 
description of the means he adopted for ascertaining 
the exact amount of sulphuretted carbon. 

“The usual way of determining the sulphur of the 
bi-sulphide of carbon, is to bum the gas, thereby pro¬ 
ducing sulphurous acid, which is collected, converted into 


60 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


sulphuric acid, and then estimated as sulphate of barytes. 
The only difficulty in this process is the complete absorp¬ 
tion of the sulphurous acid, which was secured by the 
following arrangement:— 

“ A small air and gas-burner was placed inside a very 
spacious glass retort open at the bottom, and afterwards 
closed by dilute ammonia, contained in a suitable glass 
vessel. The retort was then connected with two Woolf’s 
bottles, the first of which contained a solution of am¬ 
monia, and the second a solution of iodine in iodide of 
potassium; the gaseous products of combustion were 
forced through these liquids by means of strong air- 
currents produced by a water-aspirator, and thus absorbed. 

“ The solution of iodine was used merely in case some 
of the sulphurous acid should escape unabsorbed by the 
ammonia; but it was found, in all these experiments, 
that not a trace of it could be detected in the second 
bottle. 

“ The sulphurous acid, combined with the ammonia to 
sulphite of ammonia, was then converted into sulphuric 
acid by a solution of iodine in iodide of potassium, pre¬ 
cipitated by chloride of barium, and weighed as sulphate 
of barytes. 

“ This apparatus was connected with the neck of the 
retort; but, a similar one was in communication with 
the body of the retort, by means of a glass tube passing 
through the dilute ammonia into the body of the retort. 
In order to be sure of a constant pressure of the gas, 
and thus allowing the operation to go on safely for a 
length of time, a small, delicate regulator was placed 
between the experimental meter and the burner, by 
which arrangement a certain maximum of pressure could 
not be exceeded; this was the more requisite, because 
the variation in pressure in the experiments made at 
your works, was necessarily very considerable; and with¬ 
out this regulator, the combustion might take place too 
quickly, the resulting carbonic acid not being drawn oft’ 
in the same ratio, and might ultimately extinguish the 
flame.” 

Mr. Versmann, then gives the results of experi¬ 
ments extending over 629 hours, or upwards of 26 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


61 


days, and made upon 236 cubic feet of the Commer¬ 
cial Company’s gas, in which the average grains of 
free sulphur found in each 100 cubic feet of gas was 
2.99. In other short experiments, burning only 
5tt cubic feet of gas, the average was 6.35 grains 
per 100 cubic feet. Like experiments upon the 
Chartered Company’s gas gave an average of 9.41 
grains. 

Mr. Versmann then goes on to say that :— 

“ The variation in these results appears, at first sight, 
considerable, and it may be difficult to find a precise 
explanation; but the subsequent calculations will show 
that even the largest quantity is comparatively so small 
that the difference becomes very insignificant indeed. 

“The formation of bi-sulphide of carbon greatly de¬ 
pends upon—1st. The dampness of the coals, because in 
very damp coals all sulphur will most probably be con¬ 
verted into sulphuretted hydrogen; 2ndly. The degree 
of heat to which the coals are exposed; and 3rdly. Upon 
the quantity of sulphur present in the coals. 

“ It is evident, therefore, that experiments made at 
various times, and made with gas of different works, 
must lead to somewhat different results; and I think 
that the uniformity in these experiments is by far greater 
than could have been anticipated. 

“ In proceeding to the practical view of the question, 
i. e., whether this amount of sulphur may possibly become 
in any way injurious or obnoxious to persons inhaling 
the atmosphere of places where the gas is burnt, we 
must enter the dry field of calculation. Numbers always 
speak for themselves, and are at least open to contra¬ 
diction. 

“ 100 cubic feet of gas are found to contain 2.99 grains, 
6.35 grains, and 9.41 grains of sulphur as bi-sulphide of 
carbon. 

“ The specific gravity of your gas is equal to 0.440, 
and I will assume the gas of the Chartered Gas Company 
to be of the same specific gravity. 100 cubic feet of 


02 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


air weigh 50,490 grains, and, consequently, 100 cubic 
feet of gas weigh 56,490 grains x 0.440 = 24,856 grains, 
which contain 2.99 grains, 6.35 grains, and 9.41 grains 
of sulphur respectively, corresponding to 0.012, 0.026, 
and 0.038 per cent, by weight of sulphur, or 10,000 
parts by weight of gas contain 1.2, 2.6, and 3.S parts by 
weight of sulphur respectively. Or, if we compare the 
relative proportions by volume, we arrive at even smaller 
numbers, in consequence of the specific gravity of the 
bi-sulphide of carbon vapours being considerably high, viz., 
2.66. I speak here of the vapours of bi-sulphide of 
carbon, and not of that of sulphur, because it will be 
more correct to compare the volume of the gas with the 
volume of the first vapour. The sulphur vapours have 
so high a specific gravity as 6.65; the calculation shows 
that one volume of bi-sulphide of carbon consists of half 
a volume of carbon vapours, and one-third of a volume 
of sulphur vapours. 

“ The above quantities of sulphur, 2.99 grains, 6.35 
grains, and 9.41 grains, correspond to 3.55 grains, 7.22 
grains, and 11.22 grains of bi-sulphide of carbon. 

“As 100 cubic feet of air weigh 56,490 grains, 100 
cubic feet of vapour of bi-sulphide of carbon weigh 
56,490 grains x 2.66 = 150,263 grains; and, again, if 
150,263 grains have a volume of 100 cubic feet, 3.55 
grains, 7.22 grains, and 11.22 grains have a volume of 
0.00236, 0.00480, and 0.00747 cubic feet, these fractions 
of cubic feet of bi-sulphide of carbon vapours are con¬ 
tained in 100 cubic feet of gas; or, in other words, 10,000 
cubic feet of gas contain 0.236, 0.480, or 0.747 cubic 
feet respectively of vapours of bi-sulphide of carbon. 

“ The result of these experiments, then, is that the 
gas contains in 10,000 parts by weight 1.2, 2.6, and 3.8 
parts of sulphur, and 10,000 parts by volume, 0.236, 0.480, 
and 0.747 parts of bi-sulphide of carbon; and it may, 
without hesitation, be affirmed that such a small quantity 
cannot have the slightest injurious effect, and that, even 
if the quantity was much larger, it would nevertheless be 
innocuous. 

“ To give you a still more convincing demonstration of 
the infinite smallness of these numbers I will now com- 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


03 


pare the products of combustion of gas; and here again 
I shall be supported by the indisputable authority of 
calculation. 

“ The principal product of combustion of gas, besides 
water, is carbonic acid, a gas which does not sustain 
animal life, being, on the contrary, injurious if inhaled in 
an excessive quantity. 

“ It will, therefore, be interesting to find the relative 
proportions of carbonic and sulphurous acid, formed by 
combustion of a certain quantity of gas. 

“ In calculating the quantity of carbonic acid produced 
in burning gas, we find that 100 volumes form about 50 
volumes of carbonic acid. The olefiant gas yields twice 
its volume, and light carburetted hydrogen its own 
volume of carbonic acid ; assuming the gas to contain in 
100 volumes at the average 5 volumes of the former, and 
40 volumes of the later, this would give 50 volumes of 
carbonic acid, which certainly is below the actual result. 

“The bi-sulphide of carbon, in being burnt, produces 
sulphurous acid, a gas which is destructive, if present in 
any sensible quantity, and which it would certainly be 
very desirable to banish altogether by some practical 
means. 

“ In forming sulphurous acid the sulphur combines 
with two equivalents, or exactly its own weight of oxygen, 
yielding twice its weight of acid, so that the 2.99 grains, 
0.35 grains, and 9.41 grains of sulphur will produce 5.98 
grains, 12.70 grains, and 18.82 grains of sulphurous acid. 

“ In order to compare these quantities with the volume 
of carbonic acid, it will be necessary to remark that the 
specific gravity of sulphurous acid is 2.247, and thus to 
make a calculation as before. 

“As 100 cubic feet of acid weigh 56,490’grains, 100 
cubic feet of sulphurous acid weigh 56,490 grains x 2.247 
= 126,933 grains; and again, if 126,933 grains have a 
volume of 100 cubic feet, 5.98 grains, 12.70 grains, and 
18.82 grains have a volume of .0.0047, 0.0100, and 
0.0148 cubic feet. 

“ These numbers represent, together with about 50 
cubic feet of carbonic acid, the products of combustion of 
100 cubic feet of gas, or, comparing these proportions in 


64 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


larger numbers, we find that, in burning gas, with every 
50,000 cubic feet of carbonic acid, 4.7,10.12, and 14.8 
cubic feet of sulphurous acid are formed, and distributed 
into the atmosphere. 

“The sulphurous acid has certainly far more destruc¬ 
tive properties than carbonic acid, although the last does 
not support combustion or auimal life; but it is quite out 
of the question that these small quantities of sulphurous 
acid could have any injurious effect upon the human con¬ 
stitution, while the enormous quantities of carbonic acid 
formed at the same time should have no effect whatever. 

“ I am of opinion that, before any person could be in¬ 
convenienced by these quantities of sulphurous acid, he 
must have ceased to live, long previously, from the effect 
of the carbonic acid. 

“ The fact is, in examining this question, it has gene¬ 
rally been neglected to make proper allowance for this 
circumstance, that all our houses and rooms are so well 
and constantly ventilated that any dangerous accumula¬ 
tion of gases cannot easily take place. 

“ It would, indeed, be highly desirable to remove even 
these traces of bi-sulphide of carbon from the gas, because 
we naturally wish to have as few impurities as possible in 
the atmosphere, and we are quite justified in doing our 
utmost to get rid of them; but I very much question 
whether the removal of bi-sulphide of carbon from the gas 
would be the first and most important point, if we were 
seriously bent upon ameliorating the atmosphere of our 
houses, especially in large towns. 

“ I think far too much importance has been given to 
this subject, most likely from no extensive experiments 
having been made, or proper comparison drawn with 
other causes tending to impair the state of our atmo¬ 
sphere. 

“ Before concluding these remarks I will subjoin a 
parallel example, which I trust will be as convincing as 
the former statements. It is well known that our com¬ 
mon lucifers are prepared by dipping pieces of wood into 
melted sulphur, and afterwards into a chemical composi¬ 
tion, which upon friction produces ignition. It is some¬ 
what surprising that this branch of industry is almost in 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


65 


a state of infancy in England, when we consider its pro¬ 
gress elsewhere ; and I have often found that the lucifers 
in common use here contain two or three times as much 
sulphur as is required, and even more. 

“No one imagines that any serious injury or deteriora¬ 
tion of the state of the atmosphere can take place from 
lighting a lucifer in a room, and yet, when we come to 
compare the amount of sulphurous acid thus produced 
with that resulting from burning a certain quantity of 
gas, we shall soon find that the danger is in one case as 
great as in the other. 

“I determined, with this view, the quantity of sulphur 
adhering to a variety of lucifers, taking twelve lucifers, 
converting the sulphur into sulphuric acid, and deter¬ 
mining this as sulphate of barytes. I hereby arrived at 
the result that a great variety of lucifers have more than 
one grain of sulphur a piece. 

“ We may assume that a large lofty room is lighted 
with four gas burners, each consuming five cubic feet of 
gas per hour, and that their flames burn for five hours, in 
order to consume 100 cubic feet of gas, containing 2.99 
grains, G.35 grains, and 9.41 grains of sulphur. 

“ The same quantity of sulphur would be burnt by 
lighting during the five hours three, seven, or ten lucifers; 
and I really do not think that any one could entertain 
the slightest fear in so doing, although the phosphoric acid 
simultaneously produced may be, perhaps, even more in 
quantity than the sulphurous acid. I am sure that this 
one instance will suffice to illustrate how unfounded is 
the apprehension of injury from the effect of the sul¬ 
phurous acid; and I must say that the quantity of 
sulphur found in these experiments must be much larger 
before any reasonable fear could be entertained.” 

From the purifiers, with which we have occupied 
ourselves so long, the gas passes through the station 
meter, except in some works where that instrument is 
interdicted. At the Pancras station of the Imperial 
Company there is a single station meter, no longer 
used, and at the Hackney-road, and, we believe, at 

F 


66 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


the Fulham stations there is no station meter what¬ 
ever. Neither is there one at the City Gas-works. 
The Imperial and the City companies measure their 
gas in the gas-holders by noting the rise and fall, 
thus making the gas-holders what they were originally 
called, gasometers, or measures of gas. Of course, 
measurements by the holder would not be worth the 
paper on which they were recorded if gas were 
allowed to flow into and out of the holder at the same 
time. This we must suppose, therefore, is never per¬ 
mitted in the cases in question, although how Mr. 
Clark, at the Hackney-road station, manages to 
separate the supply of and delivery from his monster 
holder, 200 ft. in diameter, 80 ft. high, and contain¬ 
ing 2,500,000 odd cubic feet of gas, especially in 
winter and in foggy weather, is more than we can 
well understand. 

We shall here dismiss the meters, partly because, 
in London, they are almost always made by Mr. 
Crosley or Mr. Parkinson, and although requiring a 
certain amount of attention from the gas engineer, 
are never planned or constructed and seldom repaired 
by him; and partly because to enter fully upon the 
subject of meters would occupy almost as much space 
as we can devote to all the other apparatus employed 
in gas making. To understand the various meters 
also would require engravings, which, thus far, we 
have dispensed with. We may merely note here 
that the gas enters the meter at a considerably higher 
temperature than that at which it goes to the holders. 
At some of the gas-works, as at the Horseferry-road 
station, careful hourly observations of the tempera- 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


67 


ture of the influent and effluent gas and of the air, 
and also, we believe, of the height of the barometer, 
have been made for a long series of years, and these 
afford, perhaps, one of the very best records of 
London weather extant. 

From the meters the gas passes to the holders, 
which, as engineering constructions, are perhaps the 
most interesting of all the constituent portions of a 
great gas-works. A gas-holder may be compared to 
an enormous diving-bell, rising and sinking in a great 
well of water, according to the quantity of gas let 
into or let out of the holder, through the inlet and 
outlet pipes entering the well at the bottom and 
rising above the surface of the water into the interior 
of the holder itself. 

We cannot say exactly how many gas-holders there 
are in London, but we are not far out of the way in 
stating their collective capacity as about 35,000,000 
cubic feet, equal to the contents of a single holder 
800 ft. in diameter and 70 ft. high, or to sixteen 
holders 200 ft. in diameter and 70 ft. high, or sixty- 
four holders each 100 ft. in diameter and 70 ft. high. 
The Imperial Company take the lead in large gas¬ 
holders, not only in London, but, thus far, in the 
whole world. The great holder at the Hackney-road 
station is 201 ft. in diameter on the lower, and 
198 ft. 6 in. on the upper lift, and “ goes out ” 80 ft., 
thus containing about 2,500,000 cubic feet of gas. 
There are a number of smaller holders at the same 
station, two of which are upwards of 100 ft. each in 
diameter. At the Fulham station of the same com¬ 
pany there is one double-lift or telescopic gas-holder, 

F 2 


68 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


200 ft. in diameter and 64 ft. high; and, among 
smaller holders, one of 160 ft. diameter. At the 
Pancras station there are ten gas-holders up and one 
in progress. The largest is 145 ft. diameter, and in 
a single lift of 55 ft. The one in progress is 134 ft. 
in diameter, and in a single lift of 55 ft. The ten 
holders already up contain, collectively, 3,326,000 
cubic feet of gas, the largest holding 871,000 ft., and 
the smallest 80,000 ft. 

In the preceding paragraph we have noted the two 
largest gas-holders in the world, as far as the know¬ 
ledge of English gas engineers extends. The Hackney- 
road holder was erected in 1857, and that at Fulham, 
although constructed previously, was originally made 
with a single lift of about 40 ft. The largest gas¬ 
holder in the world previous to 1857 was believed to 
be that of the Philadelphia, U.S., Gas-works, at the 
Point Breeze station in the suburbs of that city. 
This holder is 160 ft. in diameter and 95 ft. high, or 
nearly the height of the three-lift holder of the City 
Gas-works, the highest in London. In both cases the 
height of the holder alone, exclusive of the columns, 
is that given as 95 ft. The Philadelphia holder was 
an expensive structure, the tank being laid in stone¬ 
work, and carried up to enclose the whole of the 
holder, massive stone buttresses being erected on the 
outside. 

The Phoenix Company have a holder the third in 
size in London ; to wit: 160ft. in diameter, 70ft. in 
height, and containing 1,385,000 cubic feet. This 
was erected in 1855 at Kennigton Oval. The com¬ 
pany have other holders of moderate size, both in 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


69 


Kennington-lane and in Wellington-street, Black- 
friars. 

The City Gas-works have eleven holders, one in 
three lifts, each 32 ft. 6 in. high, or 97 ft. 6 in. in all, 
the bottom lift being 82 ft. in diameter. The whole 
height of this holder is 105 ft., and its total capacity 
upwards of 450,000 cubic feet. Another holder is 
100 ft. in diameter, but of moderate height, and the 
rest are much smaller. 

The Chartered Company’s holders are of moderate 
size, the largest, in Westminster, containing 620,000 
cubic feet. 

The Equitable Company have eleven holders, the 
largest 116 ft. in diameter, and having two lifts of 
33 ft. each. 

The Commercial Company have four telescopic 
holders, two being 119 ft. in diameter each, and 52 ft. 
high, while the others are 110 ft. each by 52 ft. 

The Great Central Consumers’ Company have 
four telescopic holders each 104 ft. in diameter and 
50 ft. high, the capacity of each being 412,000 cubic 
feet. 

The London Gas-works have, in addition to a 
number of small holders, two at Nine Elms, each 
150 ft. in diameter and 60 ft. high, and containing 
each about 1,000,000 cubic feet of gas. 

The South Metropolitan Company have five gas¬ 
holders. The largest is 110 ft. in diameter and 60 ft. 
high. 

The Surrey Consumers’ Company have six holders, 
the largest, 108 ft. in diameter. 

The Western Gas-works have three holders, the 


70 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


largest, put up in 1859, and under Mr. Pritchard’s 
direction, being 150 ft. in diameter and 50 ft. high. 

The Ratcliff Company’s holders are of moderate 
size. We are unable just now to give the sizes of 
the holders of the Independent Company. 

The dimensions, already given, of the great gas¬ 
holders in London, afford a strong contrast with those 
of the vessels first set up for the storage of gas. From 
a valuable paper on gas-holders, read some years ago 
by Mr. Alfred Williams before the Society of En¬ 
gineers, it appears that the gas-holder, or gasometer, 
constructed in 1803 by Mr. Murdoch at the Soho 
Works of Messrs Boulton and Watt, was 8 ft. in dia¬ 
meter and 6 ft. high. Not long afterwards, when 
some progress was being made in the introduction of 
gas for lighting towns, Sir Humphry Davy, who, 
notwithstanding his great genius, was among the first 
to sneer at the most important applications of che¬ 
mistry to the practical purposes of life, contemptu¬ 
ously asked Mr. Clegg if he intended to use the dome 
of St. Paul’s for a gas-holder. The latter, in replying 
that he hoped to see the day when such vessels would 
not be much smaller than the great dome, could hardly 
have foreseen how gas-holders of even far greater bulk 
would ultimately be required. The dome of St. Paul’s 
is 145 ft. in external diameter, while already the 
Liverpool Gas-works are about to be enlarged by the 
construction of a gas-holder 240 ft. in diameter, 70 ft. 
high, and containing upwards of 3,100,000 cubic feet 
of gas. For some years, too, the Imperial Company 
have contemplated the erection of a holder 300 ft. in 
diameter. 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


71 


For many years gas-holders were regarded as"dan- 
gerous, it being supposed either that gas was, by itself, 
explosive, or that it could become mixed in the holder 
with such a quantity of air as would render the com¬ 
bination explosive. It is now pretty well known that 
gas by itself is no more explosive than pump water, 
and it is evident that air cannot enter a vessel in 
which gas is compressed while its elasticity is greater 
than that of ah’. If a hole were knocked through the 
side of a gas-holder gas would escape, but as long as 
the pressure, generally equal to 5 in. of water, was 
maintained, no air could enter. But not long after 
the time (1813), when the Chartered Gas-works went 
into operation, a deputation, headed by Sir J. Banks, 
visited them to report upon the apparatus used, and, 
among other recommendations to Parliament, was one 
that the gas-holders should not be made of a capacity 
greater than 6000 cubic feet, and that they should be 
enclosed in strong brick buildings. The walls which 
formerly enclosed one of the earlier holders are still 
standing at the Ilorseferry-road station. Mr. Clegg 
was among the first, in the case of the Chester and 
the Birmingham Gas-works, to erect holders in the 
open air, and he did so in the face of much popular 
outcry against the supposed danger of such a practice. 

Preparatory to the construction of a gas-holder, it is 
necessary to provide a tank of sufficient size for its 
reception, and to make the tank thoroughly water¬ 
tight. The first tanks, for holders of small size, were 
generally made of wood, and were the work of the 
brewers’ vat makers, who guaranteed their duration 
for a term of years. Wood was not applicable, how- 


72 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


ever, beyond a certain moderate size of tank, and the 
tanks are now always made either of brick, stone, or 
iron. In one case, at Chester, Mr. Clegg excavated 
a tank in solid rock. 

Gas-holders being now always made circular, on 
account of that form containing the most gas with 
the least amount of iron in the sides, the tank is a 
circular pit, 2 ft. or more larger, in its internal dia¬ 
meter, than the holder itself. The depth of the tank 
is about the same as that of the holder where the latter 
is in a single lift. The telescopic arrangement, now 
generally adopted for large holders, permits of the use 
of a tank of only one-half or one-third the depth of 
the holder, according as two or three lifts may be 
used. It is not customary to excavate the pit to the 
full depth over the whole surface of the bottom, the 
full depth being requisite only next the wall forming 
the tank. A large conical mass of earth, carefully 
puddled over with clay, is generally left in the centre 
of the tank, except in very marshy soil. This cone 
or u core” is useful also in supporting the top of the 
holder when all the gas is out. In firm blue clay it 
is not always necessary to puddle the surface of the 
cone, but otherwise from 18 in. to 2 ft. of good clay 
puddling is generally requisite. Occasionally, how¬ 
ever, concrete and even brickwork is employed for 
facing the cone, while in some instances a hurdling 
or wattling of stakes and osiers is employed for the 
same purpose. 

The tank wall must be of a strength dependent 
upon the nature of the ground, as well as upon the 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


73 


depth and diameter of the tank. At the Great Cen¬ 
tral Gas-works, the tanks, 105 ft. 9 in. in internal dia¬ 
meter and 26ft. Gin. deep, are 3^ bricks or 31^in. 
thick at the bottom, exclusive of the spread of the 
footings, and fall off by three offsets of half a brick 
each to 18 in. at the top. The new tank at the 
South Metropolitan works, about 112 ft. in diameter 
and 31 ft. deep, in ground full of water, is 4J bricks, 
or 40J in. thick at the bottom, the wall being suc¬ 
cessively taken in, half a brick at a time, until a 
thickness of 18 in. is reached at the top. Heavy coun¬ 
terforts are also employed around the walls of nearly 
all gas-holder tanks, these counterforts serving also 
to support the columns which retain the holder in 
place and guide it up and down. In some of the best 
made tanks three or four courses of brickwork above 
and below each set-off are laid in cement, and hoop- 
iron is applied as a bond at each set-off. The bricks, 
always of a hard durable quality, should be laid, as 
far as possible, in continuous courses, strong hydraulic 
mortar being generally employed, although cement 
is sometimes used at an additional cost. The im¬ 
pervious facing of the cone should generally be con¬ 
tinued under the footing of the brickwork, and united 
to water-tight backing of some kind, as clay puddle, 
around the outside of the wall. Stones or other sup¬ 
ports should be built in at the bottom of the wall to 
take the edge of the holder when down. 

Mr. Alfred Williams, who has had much experience 
of gas-holder tanks and gas-holders, recommends a trial 
of concrete blocks in the construction of the former. 


74 


THE GAS-WOIIKS OF LONDON. 


Such blocks have been successfully used in river walls, 
as at Thames Ditton and Woolwich, and would cost 
hardly one-lialf as much as brickwork. 

The tanks of two of the single-lift holders at the 
Pancras station of the Imperial Company are each 55 ft. 
deep. At the Hackney-road station the tank of the 
great holder is 204 ft. in internal diameter and 41 ft. 
6 in. deep, the wall being carried up in cement for its 
whole height. Upwards of 2,000,000 bricks and 5000 
cubic feet of stone were used in the construction of 
this tank. The site was that of a pond, and the clay was 
about 35 ft. below the surface. The whole cost of the 
gas-holder, including the tank, was upwards of 40,000/., 
of which a large part must have been required for 
the tank alone. The large gas-holder at Kennington- 
oval, which cost not far from 15,000/., has a tank 
about 162 ft. in diameter and 36 ft. deep, the cost of 
which was in round numbers, 6000/., the holder and 
columns costing about 9000/. Mr. Croll’s estimate 
for the Great Central tanks, already described, was 
2351/. each, there being four placed close together. 

A considerable number of iron tanks are met with 
at the various gas-works of London. One at the City 
Gas-works, about 85 ft. in diameter, and 33 ft. deep, 
is annular, the inner ring being 7 5 ft. or 80 ft. in 
diameter, well filled in with concrete and strongly 
hooped with wrought iron bars. It depends upon the 
size of a tank whether it is cheaper to remove the 
whole body of earth to the bottom, paving the latter 
with iron plates, or to open out a circular trench only 
and plate it on both sides. In the case of the tank 
at the City Gas-works, the latter course was adopted, 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


75 


the trench being opened out about 5 ft. wide all the 
way down, the sides being planked and shored as the 
excavation went on. Iron plates for gas-holder tanks 
are commonly cast in sizes of about 5 ft. by 3 ft., the 
lower tiers of plates being made of a thickness corre¬ 
sponding to the depth of the tank, say 1 £ in. for 30 ft., 
while the upper plates are about f in. thick. Each 
plate is stiffened by stout ribs on the back, and each 
tier of plates is bound together by a hoop or band of 
wrought iron, those near the bottom of the tank being 
perhaps 5 in. by 1^ in. The plates are cast with 3 in. 
flanges, caulked with iron cement. The latter sub¬ 
stance is so much used about gas-works that we may 
as well give here the usual proportions for its compo¬ 
sition. To 16 parts (by weight) of clean cast-iron 
borings are added 2 parts of sal ammoniac, and 1 part 
of flour sulphur. These are mixed dry, and, when 
required for use, one part of the mixture is added 
to 20 parts of clean cast-iron borings, and worked up 
in a proper quantity of water. A little grindstone 
sludge mixed with the cement improves it. 

As for the construction of gas-holders we can hardly 
do better than reproduce the particulars of the large 
holder at Kennington-oval, erected by the Horsley 
Iron Company, of Tipton, under the direction of Mr. 
Innes, engineer to the Phoenix Gas Company. 

The lower lift is 160 ft. in diameter, and the upper 
lift 157 ft. 9 in., the “grip” of the lower lift being 9 in. 
wide and 15 in. deep, and the cup at the bottom of 
the upper holder also 9 in. wide and 15 in. deep. The 
holder is guided upon sixteen columns, each formed 
of boiler iron, and each 73 ft. high from stone base to 


76 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


cap. These columns are about 32 ft. 8 in. apart from 
centre to centre, the diameter or distance between the 
centres of two opposite columns, as measured across 
the tank, being 166 ft. 9 in. The distance across the 
tank, from face to face of guide iron, is 161 ft. 4 in. 

The columns are 3 ft. 3 in. in diameter at the base, 

3 ft. 2 in. at the middle of their height, and 2 ft. 8 in. 
at top. They are formed of tiers of plates averaging 
about 6 ft. high, and having three plates in the cir¬ 
cumference of each tier. The lower two tiers or rings 
of plates are of fin. iron, all the others being fin. 
At the bottom of each column is an angle iron ring, 

4 in. by 3 in. by f in., this ring being riveted to the 
column and held to the cast-iron base below by sixteen 
bolts f in. in diameter. Each column (the cast-iron 
base of the column) is tied down by four bolts, there 
being in all 64 tie-down bolts, each 16 ft. long and 
2f in. in diameter. Where they pass through the tie¬ 
down plate, which is built into the brickwork of the 
tank, the bolts are made square for a few inches. 
Cottars 3 in. by f in. go through the lower ends of the 
bolts under the tie-down plate. The base castings 
forming the bottom of the columns are 9 in. high, 

5 ft. 6 in. by 4 ft. 9 in. square on the sole, and of a good 
thickness of iron. Outside of these are castings of 
f in. metal, forming a plinth and moulding, the whole 
averaging 2 ft. 6 in. high. A Doric capital in f in. 
metal is fitted also to the top of each column. The 
tops of the columns are tied together by two rods 
each 2 in. in diameter, and at the middle of their 
height they are tied together by two rods, each If in. 
in diameter, 992 lineal feet of each diameter of the 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


77 


tie-rod being employed for tying the columns together. 
The usual practice, as our readers will be aware, is to 
employ cast-iron columns with heavy cast-iron girders 
between them. For the latter there is really no occa¬ 
sion whatever, all the support afforded by girders being 
equally obtainable by means of tie-rods. 

On the inner face of each column, and descending, 
also, to the bottom of the tank, is a T-shaped guide of 
cast-iron, each guide being 109 ft. high from the 
bottom of the tank to the top of the column. These 
guides are 6 in. wide on the face, the rib projecting 
6 in. also, and are cast 1£ in. thick throughout. 

Around the lower edge of the lower lift is a cast- 
iron curb, made in two portions. The one is a cast 
angle iron, 7 in. by 6 in., and of J in. metal. This 
being cast to the right curve is applied on the inner 
side of the holder, the 7 in. side being upright and 
the 6 in. side projecting horizontally outwards. A 
corresponding cast channel-iron, 6 J in. high, 4 in. wide, 
and | in. metal, is then applied to the outside of the 
holder. The respective portions being cast in seg¬ 
ments about 12 ft. long are put on so as to break joint 
with each other, and are bolted together through the 
holder, and also by their bottom flanges, f in. bolts 
being used. 

The grip is made with 3 in. by 2J in. angle iron in 
18 ft. lengths, with lapping pieces of the same section, 
and 3 ft. long at the joints. The top of the grip is 
made of f in. plates cut in segments of the greatest 
length of which iron would admit, and 7 in. wide all 
round. These segments are put together with butt 
plates on the joints, each Gin. long. The dipping 


78 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


portion of the grip is made of J in. plate, edged on 
both sides at the bottom with 2 in. by f in. half round 
iron. 

The top tier of plates next the grip, and the bottom 
tier next the curb of the lower holder, are £ in. thick 
and 2 ft. 6 in. wide. The next contiguous tiers, one 
above and one below, are of J in. iron, and about 
2 ft. wide. The next contiguous tiers are of No. 12 
gauge, all the others being of No. 14 gauge. On the 
inside of the lower lift, and at positions corresponding 
to the columns outside, vertical stiffening plates, 2 ft. 
wide and fk in. thick, are put in for the whole height. 
The sides of the lift are stiffened by forty-eight ver¬ 
tical Memel timbers 6 in. by 3 in. in section. These 
are arranged as follows :—Sixteen pairs 4 ft. apart 
are placed on the inside of the lift, one pair opposite 
each column, and the rest of the timbers or stays are 
arranged so as to come in intermediate between each 
pair. These timbers are securely bolted to the grip 
at the top, and to the curb at the bottom, and also 
with two f in. bolts to each tier of plates in the sides 
of lift. 

The lower lift is guided by sixteen 5 in. cast iron 
rollers, 6 in. wide, attached by plate iron brackets to 
the bottom curb, and by the same number of 12 in. 
rolls at the top, each 6 in. wide on the face and having 
a flange 3 in. deep on one side. 

The upper lift of the holder has a top curb made 
with angle iron, 6 in. by 3f in. by § in., with lapping 
pieces 3 ft. long at the joints, and connected to a ring 
of fin. plate iron, 21 in. wide, forming a portion of 
the top of the holder. The sides of the upper lift are 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


79 


Jin. thick next to the curb and the cup, the next 
contiguous tiers of plates being T \in. thick, and all 
the others of No. 12 gauge. The cup is made pre¬ 
cisely the same as the grip of the lower holder, the 
same sections of iron being used throughout. The 
sides of the upper lift are stiffened by thirty-two 
Memel timbers, sixteen being placed so as to come 
opposite the columns outside, and the rest interme¬ 
diate between them. The timbers opposite the columns 
are 12 in. by 3 in. in section, and are each fastened 
by a pair of angle irons 4 in. by 3 in. by J in. The 
intermediate stiffening timbers are 9 in. by 3 in. 
Gusset stays of 3 in. by 3 in. by 4 in. angle iron 
extend also from the angle irons, holding the 12 in. 
by 3 in. timbers, diagonally inwards and upwards to 
the inner edge of the curb plate in the top of the 
holder. 

The top of the holder next to the § in. curb plate, 
is Jin. thick, the next interior ring of plates being 
J in., the next No. 10 gauge, and all the others in the 
centre, of No. 12 iron. The top was laid out to be 
perfectly flat, but the slight stretching of the plates 
occasioned by riveting over a surface of nearly half 
an acre in extent, drew the iron up in the centre to a 
height of 4 ft. or 5 ft., the present form of the top 
being that of a segment of an immense sphere. 

A man-hole 5 ft. in diameter in the clear, and 6 in. 
high, is made in the top of the holder. The rim is 
made of J in plates, with 2 J in. by § in. angle iron, 
and the top also of Jin. plate, held down by Jin. 
bolts placed 3 in. from centre to centre, the joint 
being made with a hemp gasket and red lead. 


80 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


The upper lift is guided within the lower lift by 
small rollers attached to the lower outer edge of the 
cup, and by sixteen wheels 3 ft. in diameter, mounted 
on large standards on the top of the curb. 

All the joints of the plates were caulked with two 
strands of whip-cord laid in on opposite sides of the 
rivets. All the plates and wrought iron-work were 
thoroughly coated with raw linseed oil, the joints 
being furthermore coated with a mixture of red lead 
and oil. The whole of the holder, both inside and 
out, was afterwards painted with two coats of red 
lead mixed in 'equal quantities of boiled and raw 
linseed oil, and the work afterwards proved with com¬ 
pressed air. 

Holders with flat tops have been adopted in several 
cases of late, but it has been more customary to form 
the roof to a portion of a sphere, and to truss it with 
struts and tie rods. The roof of the great holder 
near the Hackney-road is stiffened in this way. Even 
when the holder contains more or less gas, so that the 
roof is supported clear of the ground below, the 
pressure of the gas, equal to from 200 to 250 tons 
under the roof of a large holder, would seem to re¬ 
quire some amount of strengthening in the roof. 
When down, a flat roof can rest on a timber fram¬ 
ing so as to avoid sagging, while, with a trussed roof 
with a boss in the centre, the support is generally 
upon the cone of earth left in the tank, a stone 
coping or iron plate being put in to take the bearing. 

The earlier gas-holders, of small dimensions, re¬ 
quired to be counterweighted, but with the large 
holders now made no counterweights are necessary. 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


81 


On the contrary, iron has to be added to obtain the 
proper pressure of the holder upon the gas. The 
general weight or pressure of the large London gas¬ 
holders is equal to 5 in. of water over the whole 
surface. The Phoenix Company’s holder, which we 
have described, weighs 250 tons 18 cwt., of which 
207 tons 13 cwt. are wrought, and 43 tons 5 cwt. are 
cast-iron. The total weight of holder and columns, 
guides, and all ironwork, is 429 tons 18 cwt., of which 
291 tons 19 cwt. is wrought, and 137 tons 19 cwt. 
cast-iron. The great holder near the Hackney-road 
is said to u throw” at a pressure equal to 8^ in. of 
water when filled. The total ironwork in this holder 
is about 1500 tons, there being a peristyle of Doric 
and Corinthian columns, rising from twenty-four 
pedestals, each weighing 5 tons, and cast in a single 
piece. 

An excellent holder, 150 ft. in diameter, and rising, 
by two lifts, to a height of 50 ft., was erected last 
year at the Western Gas-works, under the direction 
of the Company’s engineer, Mr. Pritchard. The 
upper curb of the top lift is made of 4 in. and f in. 
plate iron, so as to form, with the sides and top of the 
holder, an annular box 18 in. deep and 2 ft. wide all 
around. No truss is used in the roof. The joints 
throughout the holder were put together on painted 
tape. The whole cost of the holder and tank was 
under 12,000/., including all connexions. It is, 
we are told, more difficult to secure tightness in a 
holder intended for cannel gas than for ordinary gas; 
but Mr. Pritchard’s holder, which contains only 
cannel gas, has remained perfectly tight. 

G 


82 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDOX. 


Almost all large gas-liolders are now made in two 
lifts, upon tlie telescopic plan. This plan greatly 
diminishes the cost of the tank, which need be hardly 
more than half as deep as would be necessary if the 
whole depth of the holder were in a single lift. On 
the other hand, the cup of a double lift holder is more 
or less liable to leak, and especially liable to freeze up 
in winter. 

In the valuable paper already referred to as read 
by Mr. Williams to the Society of Engineers, he gave 
the sizes and cost of a number of gas-holders as 
follows :— 

The two holders erected in 1853 at the Commercial 
Gas-works have brick tanks, and have each two lifts, 
the outer or lower lift being 122 ft. in diameter and 
24ft. Gin. high, while the upper lift is 119 ft. 4in. in 
diameter and 26 ft. high. The capacity of each is 
580,000 cubic feet, the pressure equal to 34 in. of 
water. The cost of the two holders was 17,0564 
14s. 8d., equal to 85284 each. These holders have 
flat crowns without trussing. Two other holders 
erected at the same works, the one in 1850 and the 
other in 1852, were each 102 ft. in diameter on the 
lower and 100 ft. on the upper lift, each lift being 
26 ft. high. The capacity of each is 416,000 cubic 
feet, and the pressure 5 in. of water. One of these 
holders cost, including brick tank, 49004, and the 
other 53504 A single lift holder with brick tank, 
belonging to the Imperial Company, is 157 ft. in 
diameter and 40 ft. high, holds .730,000 cubic feet 
of gas under 5 in. pressure, and cost 11,4004 It 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


83 


was put up in 1853. A telescopic holder belonging 
to the Phoenix Company, 150 ft. in diameter, 37 ft. 
high, and holding 630,000 ft., cost 12,500/., of which 
the brick tank cost 4000/. This was erected in 1847. 
The holder of the Crystal Palace District Gas-works, 
at Sydenham, is telescopic, and works in a brick tank. 
The lower lift is 62 ft. 6 in. in diameter, and 18 ft. 
6 in. deep. The upper lift is 60 ft. in diameter and 
20 ft. high. The capacity is 113,300 cubic feet, and 
the pressure 74 in. The cost, erected in 1854, was 
3230/. 

From the gas-holders the gas passes through the 
governors to the mains. The governor is made like 
a small gas-holder, but to the movable part is attached 
a conical valve in the inlet pipe. Thus, as the pres¬ 
sure increases, and the small holder of the governor 
rises, the conical valve shuts off a portion of the 
incoming gas. 

The mains, which are laid 2 ft. or 3 ft. below the 
surface of the ground, are always made with socket 
joints, caulked with yarn with about 2 in. of lead over 
it. A 36 in. main is about f in. thick, except at 
the socket, where the thickness may be 1 in. or 
14 in. thick to give strength to withstand caulking. 
A 24 in. main is hardly more than 4 in. thick. The 
smaller mains are not far from § in. thick. 

It would be interesting here to enter upon the 
question of the flow of gas through mains, but our 
space does not permit. 

Something may now be added as to the condition 
of the London Gas Companies, and the cost and 


84 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


profit of gas making. In 1861 the capital, in shares 
and loans, employed by the thirteen companies was 
5,602,900/., of which the share capital receiving divi¬ 
dend was 4,455,581 /. The whole cost of coal was 
728,551/., and of manufacture and management 
573,003/., making 1,301,554/. The gas rental was, 
on the other hand, 1,411,788/., and the sale of re¬ 
sidual products increased this by 341,061/., making 
1,752,849/. Deducting interest and all charges, the 
profit was, however, 410,697/. The cost of coal 
being 728,551/., and the prices paid by each company 
being tolerably well known, it may be estimated that 
882,770 tons of coal were carbonised; and if the 
average quantity of gas made per ton of coal be taken 
as 9200 cubic feet, we have 8,121,484 thousand cubic 
feet as the total production. If, however, the average 
price of gas sold was 4s. 6d., it will be seen that the 
rental covers the sale of but about 6,275,000 thousand 
feet. A large quantity of gas, generally estimated at 
not far from one-sixth of the whole production, is lost 
by leakage; but it is possible that even this estimate 
is below the truth. Taking the gas actually paid for 
at 4s. 6d. per thousand, its cost is 2s. 4d. for coal, and 
Is. lOd. for manufacture and management, making 
4s. 2d. in all. But of this rather more than Is. Id. is 
returned in residual products. Thus, the net cost 
may be taken as 3s. Id. Then, for every ton of coal 
carbonised yearly in the gas-works of London about 
6/. 10s. of fixed capital are invested, and at the now 
usual rate of 10 per cent, dividend, there is thus a 
charge of 13s. per ton of coal as profits. This esti¬ 
mate of capital includes that borrowed however; but, 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON. 


85 


taking this as bearing interest at 5 per cent., the 
charge for interest and profits is still 11s. 6d. per ton 
of coal carbonised, or Is. 7^d. per thousand feet of 
gas for which payment is actually received. 

The price of coals can hardly be expected to dimi¬ 
nish, and, therefore, after all the agitation created by 
a certain class, the only hope of cheaper gas lies in 
one or all of three contingencies. First, in diminished 
leakage; second, in making a greater profit upon the 
residual products; and, third, in a diminished profit 
upon the capital employed. It is quite possible that 
all the ordinary gas burnt in the metropolis may yet 
be sold at 4s., but any diminution in price must be 
the result of time. 


Condition of London Gas Companies, 18G1. 


Name of Company. 

Total ca¬ 
pital em¬ 
ployed. 

Share ca¬ 
pital drawing 
dividend. 

Total profit 
exclusive of 
interest paid. 

Chartered. 

£ 

719,460 

£ 

660,000 

£ 

51,599 

City of London. 

407,805 

364,000 

16,577 

Commercial. 

330,539 

274,750 

29,141 

Equitable. 

280,400 

217,815 

30,321 

Great Central. 

238,160 

172,160 

18,222 

Imperial. 

1,579,755 

1,007,435 

102,997 

Independent. 

186,782 

120,000 

14,793 

London. 

651,692 

547,427 

36,834 

Phoenix. 

495,000 

495,000 

49,909 

Ratcliff.... 

99,097 

85,000 

6,259 

South Metropolitan. 

Surrey Consumers’. 

163,525 

152,000 

22,060 

184,894 

149,994 

13,353 

Western. 

265,791 

210,000 

18,632 

Total. 

5,602,900 

4,455,581 

410,697 






























86 


THE GAS-WORKS OF LONDON - , 


London Gas Companies, 1861. 


Name of Company. 

Gas rental. 

Sale of 
residual 
products. 

Cost of 
coal. 

Cost of ma¬ 
nufacture 
and ma¬ 
nagement. 

Chartered. 

£ 

217,567 

£ 

47,660 

£ 

127,387 

£ 

89,851 

City of London. 

81,289 

24,296 

46,310 

40,257 

Commercial. 

94,857 

21,393 

51,970 

33,438 

Equitable. 

70,734 

13,760 

29,520 

21,656 

Great Central. 

61,922 

20,799 

30,760 

30,204 

Imperial. 

369,494 

80,694 

194,868 

129,636 

Independent. 

60,060 

15,048 

34,956 

24,061 

London. 

132,228 

35,844 

61,525 

64,831 

Phoenix. 

127,131 

35,060 

57,577 

54,445 

Ratcliff. 

27,538 

7,079 

15,868 

11,761 

South Metropolitan 
Surrey Consumers’.. 

58,524 

16,954 

24,556 

28,354 

46,410 

16,212 

22,376 

25,250 

Western. 

64,034 

6,262 

30,878 

19,259 

Total. 

1,411,788 

341,061 

728,551 

573,003 


Estimated Make of Gas, 1861. 


Name of Company. 

Probable 
price paid 
per ton 
for coal. 

Correspond¬ 
ing number 
of tons of 
coal carbon¬ 
ised. 

Production of 
gas at 9200 
cubic feet per 
ton of coal. 

Chartered. 

17s. 

3d. 

147,700 

1,358,840,000 

City of London. 

16 

3 

57,000 

524,400,000 

Commercial. 

16 

0 

65,000 

598,000,000 

Equitable.. 

16 

7 

35,600 

327,520,000 

Great Central. 

16 

0 

38,450 

353,740,000 

Imperial. 

16 

0 

243,580 

2,240,936,000 

Independent. 

16 

0 

43,700 

402,040,000 

London.. 

16 

4 

- 75,340 

693,128,000 

Phoenix. 

16 

0 

72,000 

662,400,000 

Ratcliff. 

16 

0 

20,000 

184,000,000 

South Metropolitan.... 

16 

0 

30,700 

282,440,000 

Surrey Consumers’..... 

16 

0 

28,000 

257,600,000 

Western. 

24 

0 

25,700 

236,440,000 

Total. 


882,770 

8,121,484,000 
























































INDEX. 

-- 


Ammonia, purification from, 32, 
44 

Ammoniacal liquor, 42 
Ascension pipes, 30 

Beale’s exhausters, 38 
Bi-sulphide of carbon in gas, 59 
Buck staves, 20 

Cannel gas, 7 

Cement, 21, 75 

Charging the retorts, 22 

Chimneys, effect of heat upon, 19 

Clay retorts, 13, 15 

Coals suited to gas-making, 7 

Coke burnt under retorts, 27 

Composition of gas and coal, 5 

Condensers, 33 

Cost of gas-holders, 82 

Cost of gas-holder tanks, 74 

Cost of gas-making, 84 

Croll’s purifying mixture, 56 

Duration of retorts, 12 
-setting, 20 

Exhausters, 36, 37 

Fire-brick retorts, 15 
First gas-works in London, 2 


Gas-holders, 67 
Grates, under retorts, 18 

Heat of retorts, 28 
Hill’s oxide, 50 
Hydraulic main, 31, 32 

Impurities in gas, 47 

Latent heat of gasification, 36 
Lime for purifying, 48 

Mains (street), 83 
Mouth-pieces, 21 

Naphthaline, 57 
Natural gas, 6 

Oxide of iron for purifying, 49 

Pay of men in gas-making, 25 
Peat gas, 4 
Purifiers, 48, 52 

Revivification in the purifiers, 56 
Rotatory steam-engine, 38 

Scrubbers, 40 
Scurf in retorts, 29 
Setting of retorts, 15, 18 







88 


INDEX. 


Socket mouth-pieces, 21 
Specific gravity of gas, 5 
Spontaneous ignition of coal, 8 
Station meters, 65 
Statistics of gas-making, 1, 84 
Sulphate of ammonia apparatus, 
42 

Tanks for gas-holders, 71, 73 
Tar-boxes, 34 


Tests for impurities, 55 

Versmann on bi-sulphide of car¬ 
bon in gas, 59 

Water-joint, 32 

Water-wheel at City Gas-works, 
47 

Wood gas, 4 


l 


THE END. 


LONDON: 

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Elements of Hydrostatics— Chap I.—Hydrostatics ; Bramah Hydrostatio 
Press. II.—Specific Gravity ; Table of Specific Gravities. III.—Elastic Fluids ; 
The Air Pump and its Operation; The Construction of the Condenser and its 
Operation ; The Barometer; The Action of the Siphon ; How to Graduate 
a common Thermometer ; To Reduce the Degrees of a Thermometer in Fah¬ 
renheit’s scale to a centigrade and the converse; The Construction of a 
Siphon gauge ; The Construction of a common Pump and its Operation ; 
The Construction and Operation of a Force Pump ; The Operation of a Fire 
Engine; The Operation of a Lifting Pump ; The Hydraulic Ram ; The 
Archimedian Screw ; The Chain Pump ; Mercurial Steam Gauge ; Examina¬ 
tion Papers. 

Appendix.— Examples ; Answers to Examples. 


5 







PRACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC BOOKS, 


Bullock. The Rudiments of Architecture 
and Building: 

For the use of Architects, Builders, Draughtsmen, Ma¬ 
chinists, Engineers and Mechanics, Edited by John Bul¬ 
lock, author of “ The American Cottage Builder.” Illus¬ 
trated by Two Hundred and Fifty Engravings. In one vol¬ 
ume, 8vo.$3.50 

Burgh. The Slide Valve Practically Consid¬ 
ered. 

By N. P. Burgh, Engineer. Completely Illus. 12mo...$2.00 

Burgh. Practical Rules for the Proportion of 
Modern Engines and Boilers for Land and 
Marine Purposes. 

By N. P. Burgh, Engineer. 12mo.$2.00 

Contents. — High Pressure Engines; Beam Engines (condensing): 
Marine Screw Engines; Oscillating Engines; Valves, etc.; Land and 
Marine Boilers. Miscellaneous. —Coal Bunkers. Marine ; Decimals, etc.; 
Eccentric, Position of, for Land Engines ; Eccentric, Position of. for Marine 
Screw Engines ; Fire Bars ; Keys and Cotters ; Link for Land Engine, Ra¬ 
dius of; Levers; Link for Oscillating Engine. Radius of; Link for Marine 
Screw Engine, Radius of; Proportion of Connecting Rods having Strap 
Ends; Paddle Wheels, Centres of Radius Rods; Plummer Blocks; Propor 
tions of Steam Cocks with Plugs secured by Nuts and Screws ; Proportion 
of Marine Cocks ; Proportions of Bolts, Nuts, etc. ; Proportions ot Pins, 
Studs, Flanges, etc. ; Proportions of Copper Pipes; Proportions of Engines ; 
Sliding Quadrant ; Toothed Wheels (Gearing). Proportions of Engines Pro¬ 
duced by the Rules: Proportions of an Engine 20 HP nominal ; Proportions of 
a Condensing Beam Engine 150 HP nominal; Proportions of a Pair of Marine 
Engines of 200 HP Collectively ; Proportions of a Pair of Oscillating Engines 
of 400 HP Collectively ; Proportions of Boilers. 

Byrne. Pocket Book for Railroad and Civil 
Engineers. 

Containing New, Exact, and Concise Methods for Laying 
out Railroad Curves, Switches, Frog Angles and Crossings; 
the Staking out of Work; Leveling; the Calculation of Cut¬ 
tings, Embankments, Earth-work, etc. By Oliver Byrne. 
Illustrated, 18mo.$1.25 

Byrne. The Practical Metal-Worker’s As¬ 
sistant. 

Comprising Metallurgic Chemistry; the Arts of Working all 
Metals and Alloys ; Forging of Iron and Steel; Hardening 
and Tempering; Melting and Mixing; Casting and Found¬ 
ing; Works in Sheet Metal; the Process dependent on the 
Ductility of the Metals; Soldering; and the most Improved 
Processes and Tools employed by Metal-Workers. With 
the Application of the Art of Eleciro-Metallurgy to Manu¬ 
facturing Processes r “.ollected from Original Sources, and 






PUBLISHED BY HENRY CAREY BAIRD 


from the Works of Holtzapffel, Bergeron, Leupold, Plumier, 
Napier, and others. By Oliver Byrne. A New, Revised, 
and Improved Edition, with additions by John Scoffern, 
M. B., William Olay, William Fairbairn, F. R. S., and James 
Napier. With Five Hundred and Ninety-two Engravings, 
illustrating every Branch of the Subject. In one volume, 
8vo. 652 pages.$7.00 

Contents. —On Metallurgic Chemistry ; Special Metallurgic Operations ; 
Recently Patented Refining Processes; Refining and Working of Iron ; 
Manufacture of Steel; Forging Iron and Steel; On Wrought-Iron in Large 
Masses ; General Examples of Welding, Hardening and Tempering; Hard¬ 
ening Cast and Wrought-Iron; On the Application of Iron to Ship-Build¬ 
ing ; The Metals and Alloys most commonly used ; Remarks on the Char¬ 
acter of the Metals and Alloys ; Melting and Mixing the Metals ; Casting 
and Founding; Works in Sheet Metal made by Joining; Works in Sheet 
Metal made by raising and flattening of thin Plates of Metal; Processes de¬ 
pendent on Ductility; Soldering; Shears; Punches; Drills; Screw-cutting 
1 ools; Electro-Metallurgy. 

Byrne. The Handbook for the Artisan, Me¬ 
chanic, and Engineer. 

By Oliver Byrne. Illustrated by 11 large plates and 185 
wood engravings. 8vo.$5.00 

Contents. —Grinding Cutting Tools on the Ordinary Grindstone ; Sharp¬ 
ening Cutting Tools on the Oilstone; Setting Razors ; Sharpening Cutting 
Tools with Artificial Grinders ; Production of Plane Surfaces by Abrasion : 
Production of Cylindrical Surfaces by Abrasion; Production of Conical 
Surfaces by Abrasion ; Production of Spherical Surfaces by Abrasion; Glass 
Cutting; Lapidary Work; Setting, Cutting, and Polishing Flat and Rounded 
Works; Cutting Faucets; Lapidary Apparatus for Amateurs; Gem and 
Glass Engraving; Seal and Gem Engraving; Cameo Cutting; Glass Engrav¬ 
ing, Varnishing, and Lackering; General Remarks upon Abrasive Pro¬ 
cesses ; Dictionary of Apparatus; Materials and Processes for Grinding 
and Polishing, commonly employed in the Mechanical and Useful Arts. 

Byrne. The Practical Model Calculator: 

For the Engineer, Mechanic, Manufacturer of Engine Work, 
Naval Architect, Miner, and Millwright. By Oliver Byrne. 
1 vol. 8vo., nearly 600 pages.$4.50 

The principal objects of this work are : to establish model calculations to 
guide practical men and students; to illustrate every practical rule and 
principle by numerical calculations, systematically arranged ; to give infor¬ 
mation anil data indispensable to those for whom it is intended, thus sur¬ 
passing in value any other book of its character; to economize the labor of 
the practical man, and to render his every-day calculations easy and com¬ 
prehensive. It will be found to be one of the most complete and valuable 
practical books ever published. 

Cabinet-maker’s and Upholsterer’s Compan¬ 
ion. 

Comprising the Rudiments and Principles of Cabinet-making 
and Upholstery, with Familiar Instructions, illustrated by 
Examples for attaining a proficiency in the Art of Drawing, 
as applicable to Cabinet-work; the processes of Veneering, 
Inlaying, and Buhl-work; the Art of Dyeing and Staining 
Wood. Bone, Tortoise Shell, etc. Directions for Lackering 







PRACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC BOOKS, 


Japanning, and Varnishing; to make French Polish; to pre¬ 
pare the best Glues, Cements and Compositions, and a num¬ 
ber of Receipts particularly useful for workmen generally. 
By J. Stokes. In one vol., 12mo. With Illustrations... $1.25 

Chemical Analysis. Tables for Qualitative 
Chemical Analysis. 

By Professor Heinrich Will, of Giessen, Germany. Trans¬ 
lated by Charles F. Himes, Ph. D., Professor of Natural 
Science, Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa. Seventh edition. 
8vo, half bound.$1.25 

Designed as a vade inecura for the student on entering the laboratory. Endorsed 
by the most eminent Chemists of this country, England, and Germany. 

Carey. The Works of Henry C. Carey: 

CONTRACTION OR EXPANSION? REPUDIATION 
OR RESUMPTION? Letters to Hon. Hugh McCulloch. 
8vo.38 

FINANCIAL CRISES, their Causes and Effects. 8vo. 
paper.25 

FRENCH AND AMERICAN TARIFFS: Compared in a 
Series of Letters addressed to Mons. M. Chevalier. 8vo. 
paper..,.50 

HARMONY OF INTERESTS: Agricultural, Manufacturing, 

and Commercial. 8vo., paper.$1.00 

Do. do. cloth. 1.50 

LETTERS TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED 
STATES. Paper.75 

MANUAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE. Condensed from Ca 
rey’s “Principles of Social Science.” By Kate McKean. 
1 vol., 12mo.$2.25 

The Text-Book of the Universities of Berlin (Prussia), Pennsylvania, 
and Michigan, and of the College of New Jersey, Princeton. 

MISCELLANEOUS WORKS: comprising “ Harmony of In 
terests,” “ Money,” “ Letters to the President,” “ French 
and American Tariffs,” “ Financial Crises,” “ The Way to 
Outdo England without Fighting Her,” “Resources of Ihe 
Union,” “The Public Debt,” “Contraction or Expansion?” 
etc., etc. 1 vol. 8vo., cloth.$3.50 

MONEY: A LECTURE before the N. Y. Geographical and 
Statistical Society. 8vo., paper.25 

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE 8vo.$2.50 

PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL SCIENCE. 3 volumes. 8vo., 
cloth. .$10.00 

Contents —Volume I: Of Science and its Methods ; Of Man, the Subject 
of Social Science; Of Increase in the Numbers of Mankind; Of the Occu¬ 
pation of the Earth; Of Value; Of Wealth; Of the Formation of Society; 















PUBLISHED BY HENRY CARE ST BAIRD. 


Of Appropriation ; Of Changes of Matter in Place; Of Mechanical and 
Chemical Changes in the Forms of Matter. Volume II: Of Vital Changes 
In the Form of Matter ; Of the Instrument of Association. Volume III: Of 
Production and Consumption; Of Accumulation; Of Circulation; Of Dis¬ 
tribution ; Of Concentration and Centralization ; Of Competition ; Of Popu- 
'ation; Of Food and Population; Of Colonization; Of the Malthusian 
Theory ; Of Commerce ; Of the Societary Organization; Of Social Science. 

THE PUBLIC DEBT, LOCAL AND NATIONAL. How 
to provide for its discharge while lessening the burden of 
Taxation. Letter to David A. Wells, Esq., U. S. Revenue 
Commission. 8vo., paper.25 

THE RESOURCES OF THE UNION. A Lecture read, 
Dec. 1865, before the American Geographical and Statistical 
Society, N. Y., and before the American Association for the 
Advancement Social Science, Boston.25 

THE SLAVE-TRADE, DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN: 
Why it Exists, and How it may be Extinguished. 12mo. 

cloth. $1.50 

THE WAY TO OUTDO ENGLAND WITHOUT FIGHT¬ 
ING HER. LETTERS TO THE HON. SCHUYLER 
COLFAX, Speaker of the House of Representatives United 
States, on “The Paper Question,” “The Farmer’s Ques¬ 
tion,” “ The Iron Question,” “ The Railroad Question,” and 
the “ Currency Question.” 8vo., paper.75 

Campin. A Practical Treatise on Mechan¬ 
ical Engineering: 

Comprising Metallurgy, Moulding, Casting, Forging, Tools, 
Workshop Machinery, Mechanical Manipulation, Manufac¬ 
ture of Steam-engines, etc., etc. With an Appendix on the 
Analysis of Iron and Iron Ores. By Francis Campin, C. E. 
To which are added, Observations on the Construction of 
Steam Boilers and remarks upon Furnaces used for Smoke 
Prevention; with a Chapter on Explosions. By R. Arm¬ 
strong, C. E., and John Bourne. Rules for Calculating the 
Change Wheels for Screws on a Turning Lathe, and for a 
Wheel-cutting Machine. By J. La Nicca. Management of 
Steel, including Forging, Hardening, Tempering, Annealing, 
Shrinking, and Expansion. And the Case-hardening of Iron. 
By G. Ede. 8vo. Illustrated with 29 plates and 100 wood 
engravings.$6.00 

Contents.—I ntroduction—On Metallurgy; On Forging Iron; On Moulding 
%nd Casting: On Cutting Tools; On Workshop Machinery; On Manipulation ; 
On the Pnysical Basis of the Steam-engine ; On the Principles of Mechanical 
Construction; On the General Arrangement of the Steam-engine; On the 
General Principles of Sream Boilers ; Preliminary considerations on the 
Applicability of various kinds of Steam-engines to various purposc.-s ; On 
the details of Steam-engines; On Pumps and Valves; On Steam Boilers; 
On Propellers ; On various applications of Steam-power and^ Apparatus 
connected therewith ; On Pumping Engines; On Rotative Engines, On 
Marine Engines; On Locomotive Engines; On Road Locomotives; On 
Steam Fire Engines ; On Boilers generally, and a Radical Reform in those 









PRACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC BOOKS, 


for Marine purposes suggested; Smoke Prevention and its fallacies; Re¬ 
marks on Smoke-burning, by John Bourne; Explosions; an investigation 
into some of the causes producing them, and into the deterioration of Boil¬ 
ers generally ; Rules for Calculating the Change Wheels for Screws on a 
Turning Lathe, and for a Wheel-cutting Machine ; Explanation of the 
Methods of Calculating Screw Threads ; The Management of Steel. 
Appendix. —The Analysis of Iron and Iron Ores. 

Glossab f .— Index. 

Capron de Dole. Dussauce. Blues and Car¬ 
mines of Indigo. 

A Practical Treatise on the Fabrication of every Commer¬ 
cial Product derived from Indigo. By Felicien Capron de 
Dole. Translated, with important additions, by Professor H. 
Dussauce. 12mo.$2.50 

Clough. The Contractor’s Manual and Build¬ 
er’s Price-Book: 

Designed to elucidate the method of ascertaining, correctly, 
the Value and Quantity of every description jf Work and 
Materials, used in the Art of Building, fron their Prime Cost 
in any part of the United States, collected from extensive 
experience and observation in Building and" Designing ; to 
which are added a large variety of Tables, Memoranda, etc., 
indispensable to all engaged or concerned in erecting buildings 
of any kind. By A. B. Clough, Architect, 24mo., cloth.. .75 

Colburn. The Locomotive Engine: 

Including a Description of its Structure, Rules for Estima¬ 
ting its Capabilities, and Practical Observations on its Con¬ 
struction and Management. By Zerah Colburn. Illus¬ 
trated. A new edition. 12mo.$1.25 

Daguerreotypist and Photographer’s Com¬ 

panion. 

12mo., cloth.$1.25 

Distiller. (The Complete Practical). 

By M. Lafayette Byrn, M. D. With Ulust’ns. 12mo... .$1.50 

Duncan. Practical Surveyor’s Guide. 

By Andrew Duncan. Illustrated. 12mo., cloth.$1.25 

Dussauce. Practical Treatise on the Fabri¬ 
cation of Matches, Gun Cotton, and Fulmi¬ 
nating Powders. 

By Professor II. Dussauce. 12mo.$3.00 

Contents.— Phosphorus— History of Phosphorus ; Physical Properties ; 
Chemical Properties; Natural State; Preparation of White Phosphorus; 
Amorphous Phosi horns, and Bonoxide of Lead. Matches —Preparat > ‘^u ul 
10 







PUBLISHED BY HENRY CAREY BAIRD. 


Wooden Matches ; Matches inflammable by rubbing, without noise ; Com¬ 
mon Lucifer Matches; Matches without Phosphorus; Candle Matches; 
Matches with Amorphous Phosphorus; Matches and Rubbers without 
Phosphorus. Gun Cotton —Properties ; Preparation ; Paper Powder ; use of 
Cotton and Paper Powders for Fulminating Primers, etc. ; Preparation of 
Fulminating Primers, etc., etc. 

Dussauce. A New and Complete Treatise on 
the Arts of Tanning, Currying, and Leather 
Dressing: 

Comprising all the Discoveries and Improvements made m 
France, Great Britain, and the United States. Edited from 
Notes and Documents of Messrs. Sallerou, Grouvelle, Duval, 
Dessables, Labarraque, Payen, Rene, De Fontenelle, Mala- 
peyre, etc., etc. By Prof. H. Dussauce, Chemist. Illus¬ 
trated by 212 wood engravings. 8vo.$10.00 

Dussauce. Treatise on the Coloring Matters 
Derived from Coal Tar: 

Their Practical Application in Dyeing Cotton, Wool, and 
Silk; the Principles of the Art of Dyeing and of the Dis¬ 
tillation of Coal Tar, with a Description of the most Import¬ 
ant New Dyes now in use. By Professor H. Dussauce, 
Chemist. 12mo.$2.50 

Dyer and Color-maker’s Companion: 

Containing upwards of two hundred Receipts for making 
Colors, on the most approved principles, for all the various 
styles and fabrics now in existence ; with the Scouring Pro¬ 
cess, and plain Directions for Preparing, Washing-off, and 
Finishing the Goods. In one vol., 12mo.$1.25 

Easton. A Practical Treatise on Street or 
Horse-power Railways: 

Their Location, Construction, and Management; with gen¬ 
eral Plans and Rules for their Organization and Operation ; 
together with Examinations as to their Comparative Advan¬ 
tages over the Omnibus System, and Inquiries as to their 
Value for Investment; including Copies of Municipal Ordi¬ 
nances relating thereto. By Alexander Easton, C. E. Il¬ 
lustrated by 23 plates. 8vo. cloth.$2.00 

Engineer’s Handy-Book: 

Containing a Series of Useful Calculations for Engineers, 
Tool-makers, Millwrights, Draughtsmen, Foremen, and Me¬ 
chanics generally. (In Press.) 

Erni. Coal Oil and Petroleum: 

Their Origin, History, Geology, and Chemistry; with a view 
of their importance in their bearing on National Industry 

11 







PRACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC BOOKS, 


By Dr. Henri Erni, Chief Chemist, Department of Agricul¬ 
ture. 12mo.$2.50 

Erni. The Theoretical and Practical Chem¬ 
istry of Fermentation: 

Comprising the Chemistry of Wine, Beer, Distilling of Li¬ 
quors ; with the practical methods of their Chemical exam¬ 
ination, preservation, and improvement—such as Gallizingof 
Wines. With an Appendix, containing well-tested Practical 
Rules and Receipts for the manufacture, etc., of all kinds of 
Alcoholic Liquors. By Henri Erni, Chief Chemist, Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture. ( In Press.) 

Fairbairn. Principles of Mechanism and 
Machinery of Transmission: 

Comprising the Principles of Mechanism, Wheels and Pul- 
lies, Strength and Proportions of Shafts, Couplings for Shafts, 
and Engaging and Disengaging Gear. By Wm. Fairbairn, 
Esq., C.E., LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S., Corresponding Member of 
the National Institute of France, and of the Royal Academy 
of Turin; Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, e'tc., etc. Illus¬ 
trated by over 150 wood cuts.$2.50 

Contents.—General Views, Link Work, Wrapping Connectors, 
Wheel-work: General Views Relating to Machines; Elementary Forms 
of Mechanism ; Link-work; Wrapping Connectors; Wheel-work producing 
Motion by rolling Contact ; Sliding Pieces producing Motion by sliding 
Contact; On Wheels and Pullies ; Wrapping Connectors; Toothed Wheels ; 
Spur Gearing ; Pitch of Wheels ; Teeth of Wheels ; Bevel Wheels ; Skew 
Bevels ; The Worm and Wheel ; Strength of the Teeth of Wheels ; On the 
Strength and Proportions of Shafts; Material of which Shafting is 
Constructed ; Transverse Strain ; Torsion ; Velocity of Shafts ; On Journals ; 
Friction ; Lubrication ; On Couplings for Shafts and Engaging and 
Disengaging Gear: Couplings; Disengaging and Reengaging Gear; 
Hangers ; Plumber Blocks, etc., for carrying Shafting ; Main Shafts. 

Fairbairn. Useful Information for Engi¬ 
neers. 

By William Fairbairn. ( In Press.) 

Kobell. Erni. Mineralogy Simplified: 

A short method of Determining and Classifying Minerals, by 
means of simple Chemical Experiments in the Wet Way. 
Translated from the last German edition of F. Von Kobell 
with additions, by Henri Erni, M. I)., Chief Chemist, Depart- 
partment of Agriculture, author of “Coal Oil and Petro¬ 
leum.” In one volume, 12mo.$2.50 

Gilbart. A Practical Treatise on Banking. 

By James William Gilbart. F. R. S. A new enlarged and 
improved edition. Edited by J. Smith Homans, editor of 
“Banker’s Magazine.” To which is added “Money,” by 

H. C. Carey. 8vo.$3.50 

12 








PUBLISHED BY HENRY CAREY BAIRD. 


Gregory’s Mathematics for Practical Men; 

Adapted to the Pursuits of Surveyors, Architects, Mechan¬ 


ics, and Civil Engineers. 8vo., plates, cloth.$2.50 

Gas and Ventilation. 

A Practical Treatise on Gas and Ventilation. By E. E. Per¬ 
kins. 12mo., cloth.$1.25 

Griswold. Railroad Engineer’s Pocket Com¬ 
panion for the Field. 

By W. Griswold. 12mo., tucks.$1.25 


Hartmann. The Practical Iron Manufactu¬ 
rer’s Vade-mecum. 

From the German of Dr. Carl Hartmann. Illustrated. (In 
Press.) 

Hay. The Interior Decorator: 

The Laws of Harmonious Coloring adapted to Interior De¬ 
corations: with a Practical Treatise on House-Painting. By 
D. R. Hay, House-Painter and Decorater. Illustrated by a 
Diagram of the Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Colors. 
12mo.$2.25 

Inventor’s Guide: 

Patent Office and Patent Laws; or, a Guide to Inventors, 
and a Book of Reference for Judges, Lawyers, Magistrates, 
and others. By J. G. Moore. 12mo., cloth.$1.25 

Jervis. Railway Property. 

A Treatise on the Construction and Management of Rail¬ 
ways ; designed to afford useful knowledge, in the popular 
style, to the holders of this class of property; as well as 
Railway Managers, Officers, and Agents. By John B. Jervis, 
late Chief Engineer of the Hudson River Railroad, Croton 
Aqueduct, etc. One volume, 12mo., cloth.$2.00 

Contents.— Preface — Introduction. Construction. — Introductory : Land 
and Land Damages; Location of Line; Method of Business; Grading; 
Bridges and Culverts ; Road Crossings ; Ballasting Track ; Cross Sleepers : 
Chairs and Spikes ; Rails ; Station Buildings ; Locomotives, Coaches ana 
Cars. Operating. —Introductory: Freight; Passengers ; Engine Drivers 
Repairs to Track ; Repairs of Machinery ; Civil Engineer ; Superintendent; 
Supplies of Material; Receipts; Disbursements; Statistics; Running 
Trains ; Competition ; Financial Management; General Remarks. 

Johnson. A Report to the Navy Department 
of the United States on American Coals, 

Applicable to Steam Navigation, and to other purposes. 
By Walter R. Johnson. With numerous illustrations. 
GOT pp 8vo., half morocco.$G.OO 


13 












PRACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC BOOKS, 


Johnson. The Coal Trade of British America: 

With Researches on the Characters and Practical Values of 
American and Foreign Coals. By Walter R. Johnson, Civil 
and Mining Engineer and Chemist. 8vo.$2.00 

Johnston. Instructions for the Analysis of 
Soils, Limestones, and Manures. 

By J. F. W. Johnston. 12mo.38 

Kentish. A Treatise on a Box of Instru¬ 
ments, 

And the Slide Rule ; with the Theory of Trigonometry and 
Logarithms, including Practical Geometry, Surveying, Meas¬ 
uring of Timber, Cask and Malt Gauging, Heights and Dis¬ 
tances. By Thomas Kentish. In one volume, 12mo.. $1.25 

Leroux. A Practical Treatise on Wools and 
Worsteds: 

By Charles Leroux, Mechanical Engineer, and Superinten¬ 
dent of a Spinning Mill. Illustrated by 12 large plates and 
34 engravings. In Press. 

Contents.— Part. I. Practical Mechanics, with Formulae and Calculations 
applicable to Spinning. Part II. Spinning of Combed, and Combed and 
Carded Wools on the Mule. Part III. French and English Spinning. Part 
IV. Carded Wool. 

Larkin. The Practical Brass and Iron Found¬ 
er’s Guide: 

A Concise Treatise on Brass Founding, Moulding, the Metals 
and their Alloys, etc.: to which are added Recent Improve¬ 
ments in the Manufacture of Iron, Steel by the Bessemer, 
Process, etc., etc. By James Larkin, late Conductor of the 
•» Brass Foundry Department in Reaney, Neafie & Co.’s Penn 
Works, Philadelphia. Fifth edition, revised, with Extensive 
Additions. In one volume, 12mo.$2.25 

Lieber. Assayer’s Guide; 

Or. Practical Directions to Assayers, Miners, and Smelters. 
By Oscar M. Lieber. 12mo., cloth.$1.25 

Love. The Art of Dyeing, Cleaning, Scour¬ 
ing, and Finishing, 

On the Most Approved English and French Methods: being 
Practical Instructions in Dyeing Silks, Woollens, and Cottons, 
Feathers, Chips. Straw, etc.; Scouring and Cleaning Bed 
and Window Curtains, Carpets, Rugs, etc.; French and Eng¬ 
lish Cleaning, any Color or Fabric of Silk, Satin, or Damask. 
By Thomas* Love, a working Dyer and Scourer. In i vol., 

12rno.$3.00 

14 








PUBLISHED BY HENRY CAREY BAIRD. 


Lowig. Principles of Organic and Physiolo¬ 
gical Chemistry. 

By Dr. Carl Lowig. Translated by Daniel Breed, M. D. 
8vo., sheep.$3.50 

Main and Brown. The Marine Steam-engine. 

By Thomas J. Main, Professor of Mathematics, Royal Naval 
College, and Thomas Brown, Chief Engineer, R. N. Illus¬ 
trated by engravings and wood-cuts. 8vo., cloth.$5.00 

The text book of the United States Naval Academy. 

Contents. —Introductory Chapter—The Boiler ; The Engine ; Getting up 
the Steam ; Duties to Machinery when under Steam ; Duties to Machinery 
during an Action or after an Accident; Duties to Engine, etc., on arriving 
in Harbor. Miscellaneous. Appendix. 

Main and Brown. Questions on Subjects Con¬ 
nected with the Marine Steam-engine, 

And Examination Papers; with hints for their Solution. 
By Thomas J. Main, Professor of Mathematics, Royal 
Naval College, and Thomas Brown, Chief Engineer, R. N. 
12mo., cloth.$1.50 

Main and Brown. The Indicator and Dyna¬ 
mometer, 

With their Practical Applications to the Steam-engine 
By Thomas J. Main and Thomas Brown. With Illus¬ 
trations.$1.50 

Makins. A Manual of Metallurgy, 

More particularly of the Precious Metals, including the 
Methods of Assaying them. Illustrated by upwards of 50 
engravings. By George Hogarth Makins, M. R. C. S., F. C. S., 
one of the Assayers to the Bank of England; Assayer to 
the Anglo-Mexican Mints; and Lecturer upon Metallurgy 
at the Dental Hospital, London. In one vol., 12mo.. .$3.50 

Contents.— General Properties of the Metals ; General View of the Com¬ 
bining Properties of the Metals; Combination of Metals with the Non- 
Metallic Elements; Of Metallic Salts ; Of Heating Apparatus, Furnaces, 
etc. ; Of Fuels Applicable to Metallurgic Operations ; Metals of the First 
Class; Metals of the Second Class; The Principles of Electro-Metal¬ 
lurgy. 

Marble Worker’s Manual: 

Containing Practical Information respecting Marbles in 
general, their Cutting, Working, and Polishing ; Veneering, 
etc., etc. 12mo., cloth.$1.50 


15 










PRACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC BOOKS, 


Molesworth. Pocket-book of Useful For¬ 
mulae and Memoranda for Civil and Me¬ 
chanical Engineers. 

By Guilford L. Molesworth, Member of the Institution of 
Civil Engineers, Chief Resident Engineer of the Ceylon 
Railway. From the Tenth London edition.$2.00 

Contknts. — Civil Engineering — Surveying, Levelling, Setting Out, etc.; 
Earthwork, Brickwork, Masonry, Arches, etc.; Beams, Girders, Bridges, 
etc.; Roofs, Floors, Columns, Walls, etc.; Railways, Roads, Canals, Riv- 
ers, Docks, etc.; Water-works, Sewers, Gas-works, Drainage, etc.; Warm¬ 
ing, Ventilation, Light, Sound, Heat, etc. 

Mechanical Engineering. —Gravity, Mechanical Centres and Powers ; Mill- 
work, Teeth of Wheels. Shafting, Belting, etc. ; Alloys, Solders, and Work¬ 
shop Recipes; Steam Boilers, and Steam-engines; Water-wheels, Turbines, 
etc., and Windmills ; Paddle and Screw Steamers ; Miscellaneous Machinery. 

Weights and Measures, English and Foreign ; Logarithms of Numbers ; 
Triangles, Trigonometry, and Tables of Sines, etc.; Properties of Ellipse, Pa¬ 
rabola, Circle, etc.; Mensuration of Surfaces and Solids ; Tables of Areas, 
and Circumferences of Circles; Weights and Properties of Materials; 
Squares, Cubes, Powers, Roots, and Reciprocals of Numbers ; Engineer¬ 
ing Memoranda and Tables ; Supplement by J. T. Hurst, C. E., contain¬ 
ing Additional Engineering Memoranda and Tables; Tables by Lewis 
Olrick, C. E. 

Miles. A Plain Treatise on Horse-shoeing. 

With illustrations. By William Miles, author of the “ Horse’s 
Foot”.$1.00 

Morfit. A Treatise on Chemistry, 

Applied to the Manufacture of Soap and Candles: being a 
Thorough Exposition in all their Minutiae of the Principles 
and Practice of the Trade, based upon the most recent Dis¬ 
coveries in Science and Art. By Campbell Morfit, Professor 
of Analytical and Applied Chemistry in the University 
of Maryland. A new and improved edition. Illustrated 

with 260 engravings on wood. Complete in 1 volume, large 
8vo.$20.00 

Mortimer. The Pyrotechnist’s Companion: 

By G. W. Mortimer. Illustrated. 12mo., cloth.$1.25 

Napier. Manual of Electro-Metallurgy: 

Including the Application of the Art to Manufacturing 
Processes. By James Napier. From the second London 
edition, revised and enlarged. Illustrated by engravings. 


In one volume, 12mo.$1.50 

Napier. Chemistry Applied to Dyeing. 

By James Napier, F. C. S. Illustrated. 12mo.$3.00 

16 









PUBLISHED BY HENRY CAREY BAIRD, 


Nicholson. Bookbinding: A Manual of the 
Art of Bookbinding: 

Containing full Instructions in the different Branches of 
Forwarding, Gilding, and Finishing. Also, the Art of Mar¬ 
bling Book-edges and Paper. By James B. Nicholson. Il¬ 
lustrated. 12mo., cloth.$2.23 

Contents.— Sketch of the Progress of Bookbinding, Sheet-work, Forward¬ 
ing the Edges, Marbling, Gilding the Edges, Covering, Half Binding, Blank 
Binding, Boarding, Cloth-work, Ornamental Art, Finishing, Taste and De¬ 
sign, Styles, Gilding, Illuminated Binding, Blind Tooling, Antique, Color¬ 
ing, Marbling, Uniform Colors, Gold Marbling, Landscapes, etc. ; Inlaid Or¬ 
naments, Harmony of Colors, Pasting Down, etc. ; Stamp or Press-work, 
Restoring the Bindings of Old Books, Supplying imperfections in Old Books, 
’’lints to Book Collectors, Technical Lessons. 

Vforris. A Hand-book for Locomotive En¬ 
gineers and Machinists. 

By Septimus Norris, C. E. New edition, illustrated, 12mo., 
cloth.$2.00 

Nystrom. On Technological Education and 
the Construction of Ships and Screw Pro¬ 
pellers for. Naval and Marine Engineers. 

By John W. Nystrom, late Acting Chief Engineer U. S. N. 
Second edition, revised with additional matter. Illustrated 
by 7 engravings. 12mo.$2.50 

Contents. —On Technological Education ; The knowledge of Steam En¬ 
gineering behind the knowledge of Science ; Failure of Steamers for a want 
of Applied Science; Fresh water Condensers, and combustion of Fuel ; 
Knowledge of Steamship Performance; Expansion experiments made by 
the Navy Department; Natural effect of Steam or maximum work per unit 
of Heat; Natural effect of Steam-engines ; Nystrom’s Pocket-book; Reform 
wanted in Scientific Books; America has taken the lead in Popular Edu¬ 
cation ; Technological Institutions wanted; The National Academy of 
Sciences; Object of Technological Institutions ; Steam-engineering and 
Ship-building; Necessity of complete Drawings before the building of 
Steamers is commenced ; America has taken the lead in the new Naval 
Tactics ; The Naval Academy, at Annapolis, not proper for a School of 
Steam-engineering ; Want of applied Science in our Workshops ; Locomo¬ 
tive Engineering; Communication to the Secretary of the Navy on the 
Science of Ship-building; Ship-builders consider their Art a Craft; Ship¬ 
builders’ jealousy; Ship-building developed to the condition of a Science; 
Memorandum ; Chief Engineer Isherwood does not approve the Parabolic 
Construction of Ships ; On the Parabolic Construction of Ships ; Applica¬ 
tion of the Parabolic Construction of Ships ; Recording Formulas; Record¬ 
ing Tables ; The labor of calculating the Ship-building Tables ; Mr. W. L. 
Hanscom, Naval Constructor, on the Parabolic Method; Mr. J. Vaughan 
Merrick on the Parabolic Construction; Resignation, by the Author, as 
Acting Chief Engineer in the Navy ; Memorandum; The Science of Dyna¬ 
mics in a confused condition ; Illustrations required in Dynamics; Mr. 
Isherwood declines having the subject of Dynamics cleared up ; The sub¬ 
ject of Dynamics submitted to the National Academy of Sciences ; On the 
elements of Dynamics ; force , power , and work , defined ; Work , a trinity ol 
Physical Elements; Discussion with Naval Engineers on the subject ol 
Dynamics ; Questions in Dynamics submitted to the Academy of Sciences* 
Vis-viva; Unit for Power ; Unit for Work; Navy Departmen attcnu>U»^ 








PRACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC BOOKS, 


to reorganize the Corps of Engineers ; Washington Navy Yard; Engineers 
in the Navy Department; Captain Fox on Engineering and the Construe* 
tion of Ships; Secrecy respecting Ships’ Drawings; Steam Boiler Explo¬ 
sions; Review of Screw Propellers; To Construct a Plain Screw; Pro¬ 
peller with a Compound Expanding Pitch; Propeller as Constructed by 
Chief Kngineer Isherwood ; Propeller as Constructed from Mr. Isherwood s 
Drawings; Centripetal Propeller; Centripetal Propeller with Compound 
Expanding Pitch ; The Office of the Coast Survey an example of what 
the Bureau of Steam-engineering should be; The Engineer-in-Chief of the 
Navy a Grand Admiral; Constructions ought not to be made in the Navy 
Department: The office of the Coast Survey and the Light-house Board na¬ 
turally belong to the Navy. 

O’Neill. Chemistry of Calico Printing, Dye¬ 
ing, and Bleaching: 

Including Silken, Woollen, and Mixed Goods; Practical and 
Theoretical. By Charles O’Neill. {In Press.) 

O’Neill. A Dictionai’y of Calico Printing and 
Dyeing. 

By Charles O’Neill. {In Press.) 

Painter, Gilder, and Varnisher’s Compan¬ 
ion. 

Containing Rules and Regulations in every thing relating to 
the Arts of Painting, Gilding, Varnishing, and Glass Stain¬ 
ing ; numerous useful and valuable Receipts; Tests for the 
detection of Adulterations in Oils, Colors, etc.; and a state¬ 
ment of the Diseases and Accidents to which Painters, Gild¬ 
ers and Varnishers are peculiarly liable, with the simplest 
and best methods of Prevention and Remedy; with directions 
for Graining, Marbling, Sign Writing and Gilding on Glass. 
Tenth edition. To which are added complete Instructions 
for Coach Painting and Varnishing. 12mo, cloth.$1.50 

Pallett. The Miller’s, Millwright’s, and En¬ 
gineer’s Guide. 

By Henry Pallett. Illustrated. In 1 vol., 12mo.$3.00 

Contents.— Explanation of Characters used : Definitions of Words used 
in this Work : United States Weights and Measures: Decimal Fractions; 
On the Selection of Mill-stones; On the Dressing of New Mill-stones—mak¬ 
ing their Faces Straight, and ready for putting in the Furrows ; Furrows ; 
the manner of Laying them out : their Draft, and cutting them ‘in : Direc¬ 
tions for laying off and cutting the Holes for the Balance Ryne and Driver; 
Directions' for putting in the Balance Ryne and the Boxes for the Driver, 
and making them fast: Of Setting the Bed Stone, and fastening the Bush 
therein: Directions howto Bridge or Tram the Spindle: Instructions for 
Grinding off the Lumps of New Stones, Turning the Back of the Running 
Stone, Rounding the Eye and Balancing the Stone: Directions for Dressing 
and Sharpening Mill-stones when they become dull; Respecting the Irons 
of the Mill; Description of Plate 4. Showing the Principle upon which the 
Mill-stones work; Howto Fit a New Back on a Stone that has been Run¬ 
ning: Of the Elevator, Conveyor, and Hopper Boy: Of Bolting Reels and 
Cloths, with Directions for Bolting and Inspecting Flour; Directions for 
Cleaning Wheat: Instructions for Grinding Wheat; Directions for Grind¬ 
ing Wheat with Garlic amongst it, and for Dressing the Stones suit&bl® 

18 







PUBLISHED BY HENRY CAREY BAIRD. 


thereto; Directions how to put the Stones in Order for Grinding Wheat 
that has Garlic amongst it; Directions for Grinding Middlings, atd how to 
Prevent the Stones from Choking, so as to make the most of them ; Reels 
for Bolting the Middlings; Instructions for a small Mill, Grinding different 
kinds of Grain; Of the Manner of Packing Flour; Table Showing the num¬ 
ber of Pounds which constitute a Bushel, as established by Law in the 
States therein named; The Duty of the Miller; Pearl Barley or Pot Barley; 
The Art of Distillation; Of the Importance of Draughting and Planning 
Mills: Cogs: the best time for Seasoning and Cutting them; The Framing 
of Mill-work; Windmills; A Table of the Velocity of Wind; Instructions 
for Baking; Receipt for making Babbitt Metal, etc.; Cement; Solders; 
Table Showing the Product of a Bushel of Wheat of different Weights and 
Qualities, as ascertained from Experiments in Grinding Parcels; Of Saw¬ 
mills and their Management; The Circular Saw; Rules for Calculating the 
Speed the Stones and other pieces or parts of the Machinery run at : To ffnd 
the Quantity, in Bushels, a Hopper will Contain; Table of Dry Measure; 
Spouts; the Necessity of making them Large; To lay off any required 
Angle: Of Masonry; of Artificer’s Work; Bricklayer’s Work; Bricks and 
Lathes—Dimensions; Timber Measure; Table—Diameters in inches of Saw 
Logs reduced to inch board measure; Of the Wedge; Of Pumps; The 
Screw; Table showing the power of Man or Horse as applied to Machinery; 
Measure of Solidity; Rules for calculating Liquids; A Table showing the 
Capacity of Cisterns, Wells, etc., in Ale Gallons and Hogsheads, in propor¬ 
tion to their Diameters and Depths ; Steel—Of the various degrees of Heat 
required in the Manufacture of Steel; Composition for Welding Cast Steel; 
Directions for Making and Sharpening Mill Picks; A Composition for Tem¬ 
pering Cast Steel Mill Picks; Governors for Flouring Mills; The Governor 
or Regulator; The Pulley; Of the Velocity of Wheels, Pulleys, Drums, etc.; 
On Friction; Belting Friction; Of the Strength of different Bodies; Falling 
Bodies; Of the different Gearings for propelling Machinery; The Crown or 
Face Gearing; On matching Wheels to make the Cogs wear even ; On Steam 
and the Steam-engine; Of Engines—their Management, etc.; Prevention of 
Incrustation in Steam Boilers; Double Engines; The Fly-wheel; Table of 
Circumferences and Areas of Circles, in Feet, suitable for Fly-wheels, etc.; 
To calculate the effects of a Lever and Weight upon the Safety-valve of a 
Steam Boiler, etc.; Of the Slide Valve; Boilers; Chimneys; Explosion of 
Boilers: On the Construction of Mill-dams; Rock Dam; Frame Dams; Brush 
or Log Dam; Gates; Description of Water-wheels; Of Non-elasticity and 
Fluidity in Impinging Bodies ; Motion of Overshot Wheels ; The Breast 
Wheel; Overshot or Breast Wheels; Table of the number of inches of water 
necessary to drive one run of Stones, with all the requisite Machinery for 
Grist and Saw-mills, under heads of water from four to thirty feet; Table 
containing the weight of columns of water, each one foot in length, and 
of various diameters; The Undershot Wheel; Tub Wheels; The Flutter 
Wheel; The Laws of Motion and Rest; Power of Gravity, Percussion, or 
Impulse, with the Reaction Attachment; Table of the velocities of the 
Combination Reaction Water-wheel per minute, from heads of from four 
to thirty feet; Tables to reckon the Price of Wheat from Thirty Cents to 
Two Dollars per Bushel. 

Pradal, Malepeyre and Dussauce. A Com¬ 
plete Treatise on Perfumery: 

Containing Notices of the Raw Material used in the Art, 
and the best Formulae. According to the most approved 
methods followed in France, England, and the United States. 
13y M. P. Pradal, Perfumer Chemist, and M. F. Malepeyre. 
Translated from the French, with extensive additions, by 
Professor H. Dussauce. 8vo.$7.50 

Contents.— Nature of the Trade of the Perfumer ; Raw Material; Po¬ 
mades ; Almond Oils; Perfumed Oils, called Huile Antique; Powders 
Cosmetic Preparation for the Lips and Skin ; Almond Pastes ; Cosmetlo 
Gloves Paints ; Dentifrices ; Volatile Oils ; Aromatic Waters ; Spirituous 





PRACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC BOOKS; 


Odors ; Colors ; Infusions ; Tinctures ; Spirits ; Aromatic Alcohols ; Fuming 
Pastils ; Cloves ; Sachets ; Cosmetics ; Cassolettes ; Toilet Vinegars ; Phar¬ 
maceutical Preparations made by the Perfumer; Toilet Soaps; Various 
Substances and Processes belonging to thb Perfumer’s Trade. 

Proteaux. Practical Guide for the Manufac¬ 
ture of Paper and Boards. 

By A. Protoaux, Civil Engineer, Graduate of the School of 
Arts and Manufactures, and Director of Thiers’ Paper-mill, 
Puy-de-Dome. With additions, by L. S. Le Normand. 
Translated from the French with Notes, by Horatio Paine, 
A. B., M. D. To which is added a Chapter on the Manufac¬ 
ture of Paper from Wood in the United States, by Henry 
T. Brown, of the “ American Artisan.” Illustrated by six 
plates, containing Drawings of Raw Materials, Machinery, 
Plans of Paper-mills, etc., etc. 8vo.$5.00 

Contents. —Chapt. I. A Glance at the History of Paper-making. Chapt. II. 
Raw Materials —Rags. Chapt. III. Manufacture —Sorting and Cutting ; Dust¬ 
ing ; Washing and Boiling; Reduction to Half-stuff; Drainage; Bleaching; 
Composition of the Pulp ; Refining or Beating ; Sizing ; Coloring Matters ; 
The Work of the Paper-machine ; Finishing. Chapt. IV. Manufacture of Paper 
from the Vat. or by Hand —Manufacture of Paper by hand ; Sizing ; Finishing ; 
Manufacture of Bank-note Paper, and Water-mark Paper in General ; Com¬ 
parison between Machine and Hand-made Papers ; Classification of Papei 
Chapt. V. Further Remarks on Sizing —Of the Sizing-room; Method of Ex¬ 
tracting Galatine ; Operation of Sizing ; Drying after Sizing : the Dutch 
method preferable to the French ; Some important Observations upon Sizing ; 
Appendix upon Sizing ; Theories of Sizing ; Sizing in the Pulp ; M. Canson’s 
method of Sizing in the Pulp ; Comparison of the Two methods. Chapt. VI. 
Different Substances Suitable for Making Paper —Straw Paper ; Wood Paper. 
Chapt. VII. Chemical Analysis of Materials employed in Paper-making — 
The Waters ; Alkalimetrical Test; Examination of Limes ; Chlorometric 
Tests ; Examination of Manganese ; Chlorometric Degrees of Samples of 
Manganese ; Antichlorine ; Alums ; Kaolin ; Starch ; Coloring Materials ; 
Fuel; Examination of Papers; Materials of a Laboratory. Chapt. VIII. 
Working Stock of a Paper-mill — Motive Power; Rag Cutters; Dusters; 
Washing Apparatus ; Boiling Apparatus ; Washing and Beating-engines ; 
Apparatus for Bleaching and Draining the Pulp ; Paper-machines ; Finish¬ 
ing-machines ; General Working Stock of a Paper-mill; General Remarks 
upon the Establishment of a Paper-mill ; General Remarks in reference to 
Building; General Considerations. Chapt. IX. The Manufacture of Paper 
from Wood in the United States. Chapt. X. Manufacture of Boards. Chapt. 
XI. Manufacture of Paper in China and Japan. 

Description of the Plates. 

Regnault. Elements of Chemistry. . 

By M. Y. Regnault. Translated from the French, by T. 
Forrest Betton, M.D., and edited, with notes, by James 0. 
Booth, Melter and Refiner U. S. Mint, and Wm. L. Faber, 
Metallurgist and Mining Engineer. Illustrated by nearly 
700 wood engravings. Comprising nearly 1,500 pages. In 
two volumes, 8vo., cloth.$10 00 

Among the Contents are —Volume I. : French and English Weights, etc. 
Introduction—Crystallography; Chemical Nomenclature; Metalloids; Oxy- 

? en ; Hydrogen ; Selenium ; Tellurium ; Chlorine ; Bromine ; Iodine ; Fluorine : 
’hosphorus ; Arsenic ; Boren ; Silicum ; Carbon ; On the Equivalents of 
Metalloids. Metals— Geology : Physical Properties of the Metals ; Chemical 

20 * 






PUBLISHED BY HENRY CAREY BAIRD. 


Properties of the Metals. On Salts. I. Alkaline Metals —Potassium; So¬ 
dium; Lithium; Ammonia. II. Alkalino-Earthy Metals —Barium; Stron¬ 
tium; Calcium; Magnesium. III. Earthy Metals —Aluminum ; Glucinum ; 
Zirconium; Thorinum; Yttrium; Erbium; Terbium; Cerium; Lantha¬ 
num ; Didymium. Chemical Arts Dependent on the Preceding Bodies —Gun¬ 
powder ; Lime and Mortar; Glass; Kinds of Glass; Imperfections and 
Alterations of Glass; Pottery, the Paste of which becomes Compact by 
Burning: Pottery, the Paste of which remains Porous after Burning; Or¬ 
naments and Painting; Chemical Analysis of Earthenware. 

Volume II. : Preparation of Ores, Manganese, Iron ; Reduction in the 
Blast Furnace; Chromium; Cobalt; Nickel; Zinc; Cadmium; Tin; Tita¬ 
nium; Columbium : Niobium; Pelopium ; Ilmenium; Lead. Metallurgy of; 
Bismuth, Metallurgy of; Antimony, Metallurgy of; Uranium; Tungsten; 
Molybdenum ; Vanadium ; Copper, Metallurgy of; Mercury, Metallurgy of* 
Silver, Metallurgy of; Gold, Metallurgy of ; Platinum; Osmium; Iridium; 
Palladium; Rhodium; Ruthenium. ’IV. Organic Chemistry —Introduction 
— Ultimate Analysis of Organic Substances ; Construction of a Formula ; 
Analysis of Gases ; Essential Proximate Principles of Plants ; Acids Exist- 
ng in Plants; Organic Alkaloids; Neutral Substances in Plants; Nitrils ; 
Essential Oils ; Products of Dry Distillation; Fats; Organic Coloring Mat¬ 
ers : Action of Plants on the Atmosphere ; Animal Chemistry ; Secre¬ 
tions ; Excretions ; Technical Organic Chemistry ; Manufacture of Bread ; 
Brewing; Cider and Perry; Wine-making; Beet Sugar; Cane Sugar; Sugar- 
refining; Manufacture of Bone Black ; Soap-boiling; Principles of Dyeing; 
Mordants ; Calico-printing ; Tanning ; Charring Wood and Coal; Manufac¬ 
ture of Illuminating Gas. 

Sellers. The Color Mixer: 

Containing nearly Four Hundred Receipts for Colors, Pastes, 
Acids, Pulps, Blue Vats, Liquors, etc., etc., for Cotton and 
Woollen Hoods: including the celebrated Barrow Delaine 
Colors. By John Sellers, an experienced practical work¬ 
man. In one volume, 12mo.$2.50 

Shunk. A Practical Treatise on Railway 
Curves and Location, for Young Engi¬ 
neers. 

By Wm. F. Shunk, Civil Engineer. 12mo.$1.50 

Smith. The Dyer’s Instructor: 

Comprising Practical Instructions in the Art of Dyeing Silk, 
Cotton, Wool and Worsted, and Woollen Goods: containing 
nearly 800 Receipts. To which is added a Treatise on tne 
Art of Padding; and the Printing of Silk Warps, Skeins, 
and Handkerchiefs, and the various Mordants and Colors for 
the different styles of such work. By David Smith, Pattern 
Dyer. 12mo., cloth.$3.00 

53" This Is by far the most valuable book of Practical Receipts for 
Dyers ever published in this country—has been eminently popular, and the 
third edition is just now ready for delivery. 

Strength and other Properties of Metals. 

Reports of Experiments on the Strength and other Pro¬ 
perties of Metals for Cannon. With a Description of the 
Machines for testing Metals, and of the Classification o f 

21 






PRACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC BOORS, 


Cannon in service. By Officers of the Ordnance Department 
U. S. Army. By authority of the Secretary of War. Illus¬ 
trated by 25 large steel plates. In 1 vol., quarto.$10.00 

£3= The best treatise on cast-iron extant. 

Tables Showing the Weight of Round, 

Square, and Flat Bar Iron, Steel, etc.. 

By Measurement. Cloth...63 

Taylor. Statistics of Coal: 

Including Mineral Bituminous Substances employed in Arts 
and Manufactures; with their Geographical, Geological, and 
Commercial Distribution and amount of Production and 
Consumption on the American Continent. With Incidental 
Statistics of the Iron Manufacture. By R. C. Taylor. Second 
edition, revised by S. S. Haldeman. Illustrated by five Maps 
and many Wood engravings. 8vo. cloth.$6.00 

Templeton. The Practical Examinator on 
Steam and the Steam-engine: 

tVitli Instructive References relative thereto, arranged for 
the use of Engineers, Students, and others. By Wm. Tem¬ 
pleton, Engineer. 12mo.$1.25 

This work was originally written for the author’s private use. He was 
prevailed upon by various Engineers, who had seen the notes, to consent to 
its publication, from their eager expression of belief that it would be 
equally useful to them as it had been to himself. 

Turnbull. The Electro-Magnetic Telegraph: 

With an Historical Account of its Rise, Progress, and Pre¬ 
sent Condition. Also, Practical Suggestions in regard to 
Insulation and Protection from the Effects of Lightning. 
Together with an Appendix, containing several important 
Telegraphic Devices and Laws. By Lawrence Turnbull, 
M. D., Lecturer on Technical Chemistry at the Franklin In¬ 
stitute. Second edition. Revised and improved. Illustrated 
by numerous engravings. 8vo.$2.50 

Turner’s (The) Companion: 

Containing Instruction in Concentric, Elliptic, and Eccentric 
Turning; also, various Steel Plates of Chucks, Tools, and 
Instruments ; and Directions for Using the Eccentric Cutter, 
Drill, Vertical Cutter and Rest; with Patterns and Instruc¬ 
tions for working them. 12mo., cloth.$1.50 

Ulrich. Dussauce. A Complete Treatise on 
the Art of Dyeing Cotton and Wool, 

As practiced in Paris, Rouen, Mulhausen, and Germany. 
From the French of M. Louis Ulrich, a Practical Dyer in 
22 











PUBLISHED BY HENRY CAREY BAIRD. 


the principal Manufactories of Paris, Rouen, Mulhausen 
etc., etc. ; to which are added the most important Receipts 
for Dyeing Wool, as practiced in the Manufacture Imp6riale 
des Gobelins, Paris. By Prof. H. Dussauce. 12mo...$3.00 

Watson. Modern Practice of American Ma¬ 
chinists and Engineers: 

# Including the Construction, Application and Use of Drills, 
Lathe Tools, Cutters for Boring Cylinders and Hollow 
Ware generally, with the most economical speed for the 
same ; the results verified by Actual Practice at the Lathe, 
the Vice, and on the Floor. Together with Workshop 
Management, Economy of Manufactures, the Steam-engine, 
Boilers, Gears, Belting, etc., etc. By Egbert P. Watson, 
late editor of the “ Scientific American.” Illustrated with 
Eighty-six Engravings. In 1 volume, 12mo.$2.50 

CONTENTS. 

Part 1.—The Drill and its Office. 

Part 2.—Lathe Work. 

Part 3.—Miscellaneous Tools and Processes. 

Part 4.—Steam and Steam-engine. 

Part 5.—Gears, Belting, and Miscellaneous Practical 
Information. 

Watson. The Theory and Practice of the 
Art of Weaving by Hand and Power: 

With Calculations and Tables for the use of those connected 
with the Trade. By John Watson, Manufacturer and Prac¬ 
tical Machine Maker. Illustrated by large drawings of the 
best Power-Looms. 8vo.$5.00 

Weatherly. Treatise on the Art of Boiling 
Sugar, Crystallizing, Lozenge-making, Com¬ 
fits, Gum Goods, 

And other processes for Confectionery, etc., in which are 
explained, in an easy and familiar manner, the various 
methods of manufacturing every description of raw and 
refined Sugar goods, as sold by Confectioners and others. 
12mo.$2.00 

Williams. On Heat and Steam: 

Embracing New Views of Vaporization, Condensation, and 
Expansion. By Charles Wye Williams, author of a Treatise 
on the Cumbustion of Coal Chemically and Practically 
Considered. With Illustrations. 8vo.$3.50 


23 









PRACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC BOOKS, 


Bullock. The American Cottage Builder: 

A Series of Designs, Plans, and Specifications, from $200 to 
$20,000, for Homes for the People; together with Warming, 
Ventilation, Drainage, Painting, and Landscape Gardening. 
Py John Bullock, Architect, Civil Engineer, Mechanician, 
and Editor of “ The Rudiments of Architecture and Build¬ 
ing,” etc., etc. Illustrated by 75 engravings. In one vol., 
8vo. .$3.50 

Contents.—C hap. I.— Generally —Where to Build a Cottage ; Bird Co 
tage ; Objects Desired. II.— The Various Parts —Walls ; Cob Walls ; Mud 
Walls ; Silverlocks’ Hollow Walls ; Dearnes’ Hollow Brick Wall; Lou¬ 
don’s Hollow Brick Walls ; Flint Built Walls ; Walls of Framed Timber, 
Rubble, and Plaster; Walls of Hollow Bricks ; Coveringfor Exterr al Walls ; 
Inside Work ; Floors ; Lime-ash Floors ; Concrete Floors ; Plaster Floor ; 
Asphalte ; Floor of Hollow Pots; Tile Floor ; Floors of Arched Brickwork 
in Mortar; Fire-proof Floor ; Tile-trimmer; Girder Floor; Stairs formed 
of Tile ; Roofs ; Thatch ; Tile for Roofing; Slate Roof; Cast-iron Roofing ; 
Eaves-gutter ; Chimney-shaft; Ventilation and Warming. III.— Terra del 
Fuego Cottage. IV.— Prairie Cottage —Cottage of Unburnt Brick—Plan ; Cross 
Section; Side View; Manner of Laying the Brick and the Foundation: 
Chimney-cap, Perspective, and Top Views. V.— The Farm Cottage —Ground 
Floor ; Attic Floor. VI.— The Village Cottage. VII.— Italian Cottage. VIII. 
Thatched, Cottage. IX. —Cottage of the Society for Improving the Condition of the 
Poor. X.— Warming and Ventilation —Ventilation. XI.— Model Cottage — 
Hollow Brick Work. XII.— Rural Cottage —Basement Plan ; Plan of the First 
Floor ; Plan of the Second Floor. XIII.— Octagon Cottage —Plan of Base¬ 
ment; Plan of Principal Story. XIV.— Drainage. XV.— Rural Homes— Cir¬ 
cumstances to be taken into consideration in the Choice of a Situation^ 
Elevation; The character of the Surface on which to Build; Aspect; Soil 
and Subsoil; Water; Villa ; Rural Home, No. 1; Views of a Suburban Resi¬ 
dence in the English style; Rural Home, No. 2; Rural Home, No. 3; Rural 
Home, No. 4. XVl.— Paint and Color. XVII.— Suburban Residences —Gothic 
Suburban Cottage of C. Prescott, Esq., Troy, N. Y.; Basement; First Floor ; 
Attic; Second Floor; Suburban Octagonal Cottage. XVIII. — Landscape 
Gardening —First steps in Forming a Landscape Garden; The Roads and 
Paths; Trees, Shrubs, and Planting; Hills and Mounds; Valleys and Low 
Grounds ; Rock-work ; Of Water, and its Appropriation or Adoption ; Foun¬ 
tains ; General Observations ; Formal Gardening ; Pleasure Grounds and 
Flower Gardens; The Flower Garden; The Greenhouse; The Conserva¬ 
tory. XIX.— Cost —The Terra del Fuegan Cottage; The Prairie Cottage; 
The Village Cottage ; The Italian Cottage; The Thatched Cottage; The 
Cottage of the Society for Improving the Condition of the Poor; Prince 
Albert’s Model Cottage; The Rural Cottage ; Mr. Fowler’s Octagonal Cot¬ 
tage ; Rural Home, No. 1; Rural Home, No. 2 ; Rural Home, No. 3; The 
Suburban Residence; The Octagonal Suburban Residence designed by 
Wilcox ; The Byzantine Cottage; The Gothic Suburban Residence designed 
by Mr. Davis. XX.— Two Residences —The Byzantine Cottage ; Ground 
Plan; Plan of Second Story ; The Gothic Suburban Residence of W. H. C. 
Waddell, Esq., N. Y.; First Floor; Second Floor. XXI.— Artist’s and Arti¬ 
san’s Calling. 

Smeaton. Builder’s Pocket Companion: 

Containing the Elements of Building, Surveying, and Archi¬ 
tecture ; with Practical Rules and Instructions connected 
with the subject. By A. C. Smeaton, Civil Engineer, etc. 
In one volume, 12mo.$1.25 

Contents.— The Builder, Carpenter, Joiner, Mason, Plasterer, Plumber, 
Painter. Smith, Practical Geometry, Surveyor, Cohesive Strength of Bodies, 
Architect. 

24 


* 





PUBLISHED BY HENRY CAREY BAIRD. 


A New Guide to the Sliest-iron and Boiler 
Plate Roller: 

Containing a Series of Tables showing the weight of Slabs and 

Piles to Produce Boiler Plates, aud of the weight of Piles aud the sizes of Bars 
to produce Sheet-iron ; the thickness of the Bar Gauge in decimals ; the weight 
per foot, and the thickness on the Bar or Wire Gauge of the fractional parts of 
an inch; the weight per sheet, and the thickness on the Wire Gauge or 
Sheet-iron of various dimensions to weigh 112 lbs. per bundle ; aud the conver¬ 
sion of Short Weight into Long Weight, and of Long Weight into Short. Esti¬ 
mated and collected by G. H. Perkins and J. G. Stowe .$2.50 

Contents. —Weight of Slabs to produce Boiler Plates (from 2 feet to 
feet, Superficial Measure, from % inch to 1 inch in Thickness, allowing for 
Heating, Rolling, and Cropping). Weight of Slabs to produce Boiler Plates 
(from 10 feet to 18 feet, Superticial Measure, from % inch to 1 inch in Thick¬ 
ness, allowing for Heating, Rolling, and Cropping). Weight of Piles to pro¬ 
duce Boiler Plates (from 2 feet to 9f£ feet, Superficial Measure, from % inch to 

1 inch in Thickness, allowing for Heating, Rolling, and Cropping). Weight of 
Piles to produce Boiler Plates (from 10 feet to IS feet, Superficial Measure, 
from % inch to 1 inch in Thickness, allowing for Heating, Rolling, and Crop¬ 
ping). Weight of Piles to produce Sheet Iron (from 2 feet to 9)4 feet, Superfi¬ 
cial Measure, from 4 Wire Gauge to 14 Wire Gauge, allowing for Heating, 
Rolling, and Cropping). Weight of Piles to produce Sheet Iron (from 10 feet to 
18 feet, Superficial Measure, from 4 Wire Gauge to 14 Wire Gauge, allowing 
for Heating, Rolling, and Cropping). Weight of Piles to produce Sheet Iron 
(from 2 feet to 9)4 feet, Superficial measure, from 14 Wire Gauge to 30 Wire 
Gauge in thickness, allowing for Heating. Rolling, and Cropping, both Bar 
and Sheet). Weight of Piles to produce Sheet Iron (from 10 feet to 18 feet, 
Superficial Measure, from 14 Wire Gauge to 30 Wire Gauge in Thickness, 
allowing for Heating, Rolling, and Cropping, both Bar and Sheet). Sizes of 
Bars to produce Sheet Iron (from 2 feet to 8 feet long, from 13 Wire Gauge 
to 20 Wire Gauge, allowing for Heating, Rolling, and Cropping). Sizes of 
Bars to produce Sheet Iron (from 2 feet to 8 feet long, from 21 Wire Gauge 
to 30 Wire Gauge, allowing for Heating, Rolling, and Cropping). Table 
showing the Thickness of the Bar Gauge in Decimals. Table showing the 
Weight per Foot, and the Thickness on the Bar or Wire Gauge of the Frac¬ 
tional Parts of an Inch. Table showing the Weight per Foot, and the Thick¬ 
ness on the Wire Gauge of the Fractional Parts of an Inch. Table showing 
the Weight per Sheet, and the Thickness on the Wire Gauge of Sheet Iron 

2 feet long by 1)4 feet wide, from 4 Sheets to 70 Sheets, to weigh 112 pounds 
per Bundle. Table showing the Weight per Sheet, and the Thickness on the 
Wire Gauge of Sheet Iron 2 y z feet long by 2 feet wide, from 2 Sheets to 36 
Sheets, to weigh 112 pounds”per Bundle. Table showing the Weight per 
Sheet, and the Thickness on the Wire Gauge of Sheet Iron 4 feet long by 2 
feet wide, from 1 Sheet to 28 Sheets, to weigh 112 pounds per Bundle. Table 
showing the Weight per Sheet, and the Thickness on the Wire Gauge of 
Sheet Iron 4 feet long by 2% feet wide, from 1 Sheet to 23 Sheets, to weigh 
112 pounds per Bundle. Table showing the Weight per Sheet, and the Thick¬ 
ness on the Wire Gauge of Sheet Iron 4 feet long by 3 feet wide, from 1 Sheet 
to 19 Sheets, to weigh 112 pounds per Bundle. Table showing the Weight 
per Sheet, and the Thickness on the Wire Gauge of Sheet Iron 5 feet long by 
2 feet wide, from 1 Sheet to 23 Sheets, to weigh 112 pounds per Bundle. Table 
showing the Weight per Sheet, and the Thickness on the Wire Gauge of Sheet 
Iron 5 feet long by 2)£ feet wide, from 1 Sheet to 18 Sheets, to weigh 112 
pounds per bundle. Table showing the Weight per Sheet, and the Thickness 
on the Wire Gauge of Sheet Iron 5 feet long by 3 feet wide, from 1 Sheet to 
15 Sheets, to weigh 112 pounds per Bundle. Table showing the weight per 
Sheet, and the Thickness on the Wire Gauge of Sheet Iron 6 feet long by 2 
feet wide, from 1 Sheet to 19 Sheets, to weigh 112 pounds per Bundle. Table 
showing the Weight per Sheet, and the Thickness on the Wire Gauge of 
Sheet Iron 6 feet long by 2)4 feet wide, from 1 Sheet to 15 Sheets, to weigh 
112 pounds per Bundle. Table showing the Weight per Sheet, and the 
Thickness on the Wire Gauge of Sheet Iron 6 feet long by 3 feet wide, from 1 
Sheet to 12 Sheets, to weigh 112 pounds per bundle. Short Weight into long. 
Long Weight into Short. 




PRACTICAL AID SCIENTIFIC BOOK3, 


Rural Chemistry: 

An Elementary Introduction to the Study of the Science ir 
its Relation to Agriculture and the Arts of Life. By E. Solly 
Hon. Mem. of Agr. Society, England. Large 12mo-$1.5( 

Contents.— Introduction— Chapt. I. Objects of Chemistry ; Affinity ; Na 
ture of Combination and Decomposition; The Elements ; The Air, its Pro 
pcrties and Composition; Oxygen and Nitrogen; Combustion, results o 
Combustion ; Carbonic Acid Gas ; Water, Ice, and Steam ; Effects of Frost 
Latent Heat; Composition of Water ; Hydrogen. Chapt. II.—Carbon, its 
Different Forms ; Cohesion ; Combustion and Decay ; Carbonic Acid Gas 
produced by Respiration, Cumbustion, Fermentation, etc. ; Nature of Acid 
and Salts; Carbonic Oxide ; Carburetted Hydrogen, Fire Damp, Coal Gas 
Compounds all definite; Combining Weights; Nitrogen combined wit) 
Hydrogen forms Ammonia ; Carbonate, Sulphate, Muriate, and Phosphat* 
of Ammonia ; Nitric Acid ; Nitrates ; Sulphur, Sulphurous Acid ; Sulphuri 
Acid, Sulphates ; Sulphuretted Hydrogen; Chlorine, Muriatic Acid ; Iodine 
Bromine ; Phosphorus, Phosphoric Acid. Chapt. III.—Metals ; Bases; Alien 
lies ; Potash, its Properties ; Carbonate and Nitrate of Potash, Gunpowder 
Soda, Common Salt, Sulphate, Carbonate and Nitrate of Soda ; The Alkalin 
Earths ; Lime, its Nature and Properties ; Carbonate, Sulphate, and Fhos 
phate of Lime ; Magnesia, its Carbonate, Sulphate, Muriate, and Phosphate 
Chapt. IV.—The Earths, Alumina, its Properties ; Alum ; Silisia, or Silici 
Acid; Silicates of Potash and Soda ; Glass ; Silicates in the Soil, in Plants 
The Metals, their Oxides and Salts ; Iron, its Oxides ; Rusting of Iron 
Pyrites ; Sulphate of Iron, or Green Vitriol; Gold ; Silver; Mercury 
Copper; Sulphate of Copper, or Blue Vitriol; Zinc; Tin; Manganese 
Lead ; Metallic Alloys. Chapt. V.—Organic Matter ; Vegetable Substances 
Lignin, or Woody Fibre ; Starch, Varieties of Starch ; Gum, Soluble an 
Insoluble; Sugar, Cane and Grape, its manufacture ; Gluten, Albumei 
Legumine , Fibrin, Gliadine; Chemical Transformations ; Formation < 
Gum, Sugar, etc. ; Fermentation ; Lactic Acid ; Manufacture of Wine ; A 
cohol; Brandy and Grain Spirit; Brewing; Bread-making; Vinegar ( 
Acetic Acid. Chapt. VI.—Vegetable Principles ; Vegetable Acids ; Citri 
Tartaric, Malic, and Oxalic Acids ; Oils, fixed and volatile, Manufactui 
of Soap; Resins, Pitch and Tar; Coloring Matters, Dyeing; Inorgan 
Constituents of Plants ; Animal Matter; Albumen ; Fibrin ; Caseine, Mil 
Butter, and Cheese ; Gelatine ; Tanning, Leather ; Fat; Bone ; Proteir 
Food of Animals ; Respiration ; Circulation of the Blood ; Digestion ; Fo 
rnation of Fat; Cookery, Roasting and Boiling; Action of Medicine 
Chapt. VII.—The Food of Plants; Substances Derived from the Air; Soure 
of Oxygen, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, and Carbon ; Substances Derived fro 
the Soil; Sources of Earthy Substances; Composition of Soils, their Fo 
rnation : Decomposition of Silicates ; Mechanical Structure of Soils ; T] 
Saline Constituents of Soils ; Organic Matters in Soils, Humus, Humic Aci 
their use in Soils; Germination, Malting; Moisture, Air and Warmtl 
Influence of Light ; Office of the Leaves; Roots ; Formation of Organ 
Matter; Flowers, Fruit, Seeds; Organic and Organized Matter; Vitali 
of Embryo ; Nature of Seeds; Earthy Substances in Plants; Effects 
Climate; Action of Plants on the Air. Chapt. VIII.—Deterioration 
Soils, its Cause; Modes of Maintaining the Fertility of the Soil; Theo 
of Fallowing ; Rotation of Crops ; Subsoil Ploughing ; Draining ; Manur 
Organic Manure; Animal Manure, contains Nitrogen ; Results of Putreff 
tion; Sulphuretted Hydrogen ; Loss of Manure; Liquid Manure; Anin: 
Excrements, Guano ; Modes of Fixing Ammonia, by Acids, by Gypsum, et< 
Strong Manures ; Wool, Rags, Oil; Bones ; Super-phosphate of Lime ; V< 
etable Manures ; Sawdust, Seaweed ; Green Manures ; Irrigation ; Inorgai 
Manures; Lime, Chalk, Marl, Shell Sand; Gypsum ; Phosphate of Lim 
Ashes ; Burnt Clay ; Soot, Charcoal ; Gas Liquor ; Potash ; Alkaline Sail 
Nitrates, Common Salt; Salt and Lime. Chapt. IX.—Composition of P 
ticular Crops; Composition of Wheat; Barley; Oats; Rye; Maise; Ri( 
Buckwheat; Linseed ; Hempseed ; Oil-seeds ; Beans; Peas; Lenti 
Vetches; Potatoes ; Batatas; Jerusalem Artichoke ; Oxalis ; Cabbaj 
Turnips; Mangel-Wurzel; Carrot; Parsnip; Clover; Lucern; Saintfoi 
Composition of Particular Manures ; Cows’ Urine ; Horse-dung ; Pigs’ dui 
Night-soil; Urine; Bones of Oxen; Cows; Horses; Pigs; Farmyard-dui 
Guano; Wood-ashes; Lixiviated Ashes; Peat Ashes ; Kelp. Index. 










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